Chocolate Cake with Condensed milk Cream and Pecans

Absolutely delicious cake that you can proudly make for special occasions. Not that you need to wait for a special occasion …I, for example, didn’t :) This cake, which is a version of a popular Russian Cake "Belochka" - Squirrel, will make any ordinary day a very special one. I love, love , love all the main ingredients in this fabulous cake : Chocolate, Nuts, and Condensed Milk - nothing less than delicious can come out from these ingredients :)

Layers of soft Chocolate cake full of crunchy nuts, moistened with fluffy and sweet cream made with Condensed milk, and all this goodness covered with rich Chocolate Ganache. Bite after bite…until it’s all gone, just melted…with a morning coffee, with an afternoon tea, and just a tiny, really tiny piece every time you open a fridge…but what can you do? It stares right at you…As an afterthought, maybe I shouldn’t have left a knife in a fridge, right on the serving plate.

Ingredients

The Cake:
5 eggs 
200 g unsalted butter, room temperature, softened
1 ¼ cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tbsp. cocoa powder
1 cup Pecans or Hazelnuts, chopped 
4 tbsp. sour cream 
½ tsp. lemon juice 
The cream:
500 ml whipping cream 
 200 ml condensed milk  
Chocolate ganache:
175 g semi-sweet chocolate, chopped 
¾ cup 35% whipping cream 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 390 F.

Make the Cake:
Separate egg yolks from egg whites and place the egg whites in refrigerator.
Beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, continuing to beat.
Add the sour cream and ¾ cup pecans, and fold in by hand.
In a separate bowl or a sifter, mix baking powder, cocoa and flour and add it to the cake butter.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites with sugar with electric mixer, beating until stiff picks form. Add the lemon juice, whisk should stabilize the mixture. 
Carefully fold in the egg whites into the cake butter until combined. 
Transfer the dough into a greased form 9” or 10” baking spring form.
Bake in the oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean. 
Run sharp knife around edge. Let the cake to cool completely before removing it from pan. 
Cut the cake to 2 equal layers.
Make the Cream:
Whisk the whipping cream until fluffy and firm.
Fold in the condensed milk and gently mix to combine.
Generously spread the cream on the bottom cake layer. Cover with the second layer and spread the cream on top. 
Make Chocolate Ganache: 
In small saucepan, bring cream to boil, add chocolate and mix until smooth. 
Let stand, stirring occasionally, until ganache is thickened slightly, about 15 minutes.  
Pour ganache over the cake, right in the middle, smoothing top and sides with palette knife.  
Sprinkle the top and the sides of the cake with the rest of pecans. Refrigerate your delicious creation for at least a couple of hours before serving. Cake is much tastier the next day.