chocolate kahlua cake

I don't know how this happened, but somehow, I ended up with a bottle of Kahlua. I don't know where it came from. Maybe leftover from a party a long time ago? 

I do know, however, how I ended up with rum, amaretto, brandy, and hazelnut liqueur. Sometimes I bake with booze*, but I end up with a lot of leftovers because 1) recipes don't call for that much alcohol and 2) Drew and I don't really drink at home (unless it's wine for me). 

But back to the mystery Kahlua. 

As I mentioned in the previous post, I'm moving and I'm trying to clean out the kitchen. I tasted the Kahlua, and it was still good (full disclosure: I tasted it after drinking a glass of wine), so I decided that I had to use it. I did some quick browsing on the internet to see what kinds of things I could bake with Kahlua. I came across this recipe, and while I normally don't just dive into recipes by unknown blogs (uh, unknown by me, that is) without some sleuthing, I made an exception because it called for 3/4 of a cup of Kahlua, and guess what? That's exactly how much Kahlua I had. 

It was fate.

Or destiny.

Or whatever.

The Collegiate Baker's recipe is for a layer cake with frosting and chocolate curls, which looks lovely, but I made mini cakes instead because they are easier to share. As I was mixing the ingredients, I thought to myself "This better be good; I'm using the fancy cocoa powder!" And it was; the Kahlua was subtle, and the cake was rich and chocolate-y.

*I bake with bourbon too, but I must bake with it more frequently because there never seem to be leftovers.