I want to make the Chocolate Buttercream icing that is in Toba Garrett's book, The Well Decorated Cake. It calls for chocolate liqueur. Maybe I should know what that is and where to get it...but I don't. Can someone tell me where I might find it? I did check the baking aisle in Wal-Mart, didn't see it. Thanks so much.

Linda

I think she means alcoholic liquor, like Godiva, or Kahlua.

Thanks. Now...does this mean it's only sold in liquor stores? I guess I'm kind of naive.

Linda

Yes, you would find it in a liquor store.

A good idea if your liquor store has them is to try the little teensy bottles. There is one that says chocolate on the label, I want to say Vermeer or something like that, and to my mind it has too much anise or licorice flavor to it and I don't think it tastes like chocolate at all.

I did call the liquor store and of course they did have it...but they mentioned Godiva, and said the price was $29.95 plus tax for a 5th. Yikes. So I left the chocolate liqueur out of the recipe, and just added water to make up for the liquid loss. The icing tastes pretty good without the chocolate liqueur.

The next time I make this recipe I will see if I can find the small bottles.

Have any of you made that particular recipe (Chocolate Buttercream) from Toba Garrett's book? I made her chocolate fudge cake recipe, and used the Chocolate Buttercream to ice it. (it's for my son in law's birthday). It seems a little heavy, and I think maybe I should have used a better quality cocoa and chocolate...I will be eager to eat a piece of the cake tomorrow, so I can judge the final product. Probably will be good, since it is Toba Garrett's recipe. I like all of Toba Garrett's recipes that I've tried. Her yellow cake recipe is absolutely the best that I've tried so far.

Anyway...thanks to everyone!

Linda

The tiny bottles are only like a buck or 2. I bought a few different varieties when I was making cake balls. They are great for a nice bit of flavor although I do warn people there is alcohol in them in case they have a sensitivity.

Yes, if you actually go into the liquor store, they have the tiny bottles of them. There is a white chocolate one too that is WONDERFUL in hot chocolate. Bailey's would be really good in a chocolate frosting recipe too!

Starbucks now makes a liquor as well. It should be much more affordable then Godiva.

Let us know how the cake turned out!

Godiva is what you want. There really isn't any other on the market that compares to it. I think they do make an off brand, but I've never tried it. They do make mini-bottles of Godiva.

Starbucks is considered a coffee liquer like Kaluha is. You could probably use them with nice results, but it would not be the same as if you used Godiva. There isn't much price difference between Kaluha and Starbucks, so I'd go with the Kaluha. I've heard so-so reviews of Starbucks, and people thought Kaluha was much better.

Thanks for the suggestions. and I will definitely try the icing recipe WITH the chocolate liqueur next time...although it was very good, even without it.

The chocolate fudge cake recipe that I used with the Chocolate Buttercream icing ( from Toba Garret's book, The Well Decorated Cake) did not turn out so good though. Maybe because I didn't use the very best chocolate ingredients. I will try it again, using better chocolate. The cake had a slightly strange taste to it. I was disappointed in it, as every other recipe I've tried from her book has been very good. So I"ll bake that one again in the next day or so, and see if I can get better results.

But again...Toba Garrett's Chocolate Buttercream Icing turned out great, even without the chocolate liqueur in it. I bet it would be spectacular with the c.l. included.

There is a chocolate liguor called "Vermeer" that is from holland and it is really good ...it it around 20 bucks. You can substitute any chocolate or coffee liqour because they both enhance the flavor. I made white chocolate espresso filling yesterday and it called for chocolate liqour that i didn't have at hand. So i used a coctail mix instead and i was great.

Could you use a chocolate flavoring syrup, like DaVinci, instead of the alcohol? All I need is to give my kid liquor...

Patton - I was disappointed with the cake when I made it too. It was flat and crumbly. I still may give it another chance, but I have a hard time convincing myself when I already have a good devil's food cake recipe.

Yes...crumbly is a good description of that cake, and sort of dense and there was that slightly strange flavor to it also. Would you share your good devil food's recipe? I would love to have a really REALLY wonderful chocolate cake recipe.

I'm making the wedding cake for my son's wedding (I've never baked a wedding cake before and will probably not bake another one...until my daughter finds someone to marry), and his fiance has chosen a pretty and simple tiered cake but is also thinking of having two cakes at each side of the wedding cake...my son suggested chocolate with cream chees icing for these two, as that is one of his favoriites....these two cakes would outwardly look like the wedding cake, just be the different flavoar. ANYWAY I would love to have a very delicious chocolate cake recipe...one from scratch...to have them sample this weekend.

Thanks!

Patton, there is a Chocolate Layer Cake recipe submitted by Lazy_Susan in the recipes section. It has really good reviews.

Thanks very much. I will check that recipe out.