Ingredients
1 cup milk
½ cup Kerrygold butter
4 eggs
pinch Morton salt
2 cups Domino sugar
2 cups Gold Medal cake flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. McCormick vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 T. Jello instant vanilla pudding
¼ cup powdered sugar
8 oz mascarpone cheese, softened
1 t. vanilla
⅔ cup strong coffee, cooled
½ cup sugar
¼ cup Marsala wine
3 cups heavy whipping cream
4 T. instant vanilla pudding
½ cup powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 oz semi-sweet chocolate
Instructions
Grease and flour two (or three) cake 8 inch pans (9 inch can be used, but bake for a shorter time). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Scald milk. Add butter and let cool.
Beat eggs and salt for about 2 minutes until very foamy. Slowly “rain in” sugar, pouring slowly over the eggs. Slowly add flour and baking powder, mixing thoroughly. Slowly add milk and butter mixture and vanilla, thoroughly mixing.
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake — 30 minutes for two pans, 22 minutes for three pans, until toothpick comes out clean. After 10 minutes, remove cakes from pans. Cool completely.
Cut off any hard edges of cake. I find that a kitchen shears work great for this task.
Dissolve sugar in coffee, heating coffee is necessary. Add marsala wine. Cool.
Place one layer of cake (if baked in two pans, split cakes in half horizontally for a total of four cakes) on plate. Tear foil or waxed paper in thin strips and place under cake around edges of cake to keep plate clean.
Whip one cup cream with 1 T. instant pudding and 1/4 cup powdered sugar until stiff, adding vanilla at the end. Gently fold in softened mascarpone cheese until completely incorporated.
Carefully and slowly, drizzle coffee syrup on top of cake, with a spoon or measuring cup with a spout, a little at a time until cake is fairly soaked (using less the one fourth for four layers and one third for three layers).
Top with one half — for three layers, one third for four layers — of whipping cream mixture and spread to edges. Using a microplane or small openings on a hand graters, grate a thin layer of chocolate over top of each layer of cream and cheese mixture.
Top with another cake layer, drizzling with coffee syrup, topping with whipping cream mixture and chocolate. If using four layers, repeat, using all the mascarpone cream in between the layers. At last layer drizzle with syrup.
Whip 3 cups cream with 4 T. instant pudding, 1/2 c. powdered sugar and vanilla. Whip until stiff. Frost tops and sides of cake with a thick layer of whipped cream. Grate chocolate over the top at the end. Remove foil or wax paper strips. Chill several hours or overnight (preferably) before serving.