• 6 ounces butter
• 3 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2-1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1-3/4 cups light brown sugar, or dried cane juice
• 1/4 cup Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/8 tsp. peppermint extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease two 9 inch round cake pans and place in freezer. Cut up two-thirds of the butter into small slices and set aside. In a saucepan, melt the remaining butter on medium-low heat. Add unsweetened chocolate squares. When melted, remove from heat. Mix in chocolate chips and stir until chips are melted. In a bowl, add eggs and vanilla. Set aside. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder. In another bowl, beat sugar and sliced-up butter with an electric mixer (until the lumps of butter are small). Gently mix in chocolate mixture. Add Kahlua and mix in the eggs/vanilla. Let stand for 5 minutes. Mix in half the water and let stand another 5 minutes. Add half the flour to the mixture. When half mixed in, add remaining water. Mix in remaining flour.

Remove cake pans from freezer. Pour half the batter in each. Bake for 28 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. After 10 minutes, remove cakes from pans. Let cool another 30 minutes.

To make the icing, add last 4 ingredients to a bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on high until whipped cream is stiff. If needed, place icing in refrigerator until ready to ice the cakes. Ice one cake. Layer other cake on top, and continue icing. refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

This recipe serves 8 people. Due to the nature of this recipe, it adjusts the number of servings in multiples of 8 only.

Per serving: calories 841, fat 49.7g, 52% calories from fat, cholesterol 175mg, protein 7.7g, carbohydrates 94.9g, fiber 3.1g, sugar 65.8g, sodium 91mg, diet points 20.8.

Dietary Exchanges: Milk: 0.2, Vegetable: 0.0, Fruit: 0.0, Bread: 1.5, Lean meat: 0.2, Fat: 9.9, Sugar: 3.5, Very lean meat protein: 0.0

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