To make cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease three 8-inch cake pans. Do not use a springform pan. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Grease the paper; dust with unsweetened cocoa powder. Tap out any excess. Set pans aside.

In a small bowl, stir together egg, buttermilk, and oil; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until combined. Gradually beat in hot coffee. Pour batter into prepared pans. (Layers will appear shallow.)

Bake 30 – 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool cakes on wire racks for 10 minutes. Run a knife between cake and pan sides, then remove cakes from pans. Peel off paper; cool thoroughly.

To assemble:

When the cakes are cool, make the Turtle Ganache.

Place 1 cake layer, top-side down, onto a serving plate with a lip. Using an icing spatula or wide knife, work quickly to top with one-third of the ganache, “petalling” the ganache by swirling it out from the center leaving a slight lip around the outside edges. (The final effect will look like petals on a flower. There’s no need to be perfect – the point is to have a kind of scalloped lip around the top outside of the cake layer. Arrange one-third of the pecans on top and drizzle with 1/4 cup caramel.

Top with the second layer, again top-side down. Repeat with ganache, pecans, and 1/4 caramel topping.

Top with the third layer, right side up. Repeat with remaining ganache, pecans, and 1/2 cup caramel topping.

The caramel and some of the ganache will ooze a bit between the layers; the petalling will help control it.

Chill cake 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Notes:

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand when preparing this cake, substitute sour milk in the same amount. For each cup of sour milk needed, place 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1 cup total liquid; stir. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes before using.

If you only have two cake pans, refrigerate 1/3 of the batter while you bake the other two layers. Clean and prepare one of the pans as directed, and bake remaining batter.

Chocolate Ganache:

Place chocolate chips in a medium-sized bowl, set aside. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, milk and butter. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Immediately pour over chips and mix until smooth. Ganache should be thick like fudge but shiny.

If ganache is too thick or is grainy, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons (or more) hot coffee. It should smooth it out and bring it together. If, on the other hand, the ganache seems too thin, let stand for several minutes before using.

Nutrition facts:

Servings Per Recipe 12, Calories 496, Carb. (g) 94, Potassium (mg) 274, pro. (g) 8, Trans fatty acid (g) 0, vit. C (mg) 1, vit. A (IU) 243, Riboflavin (mg) 0, sugar (g) 73, Thiamin (mg) 0, fiber (g) 4, Pyridoxine (Vit. B6) (mg) 0, Polyunsaturated fat (g) 7, Niacin (mg) 2, Monounsaturated fat (g) 19, Cobalamin (Vit. B12) (µg) 0, Folate (µg) 44, sat. fat (g) 10, chol. (mg) 35, sodium (mg) 629, Fat, total (g) 36, cal. (kcal) 697, iron (mg) 3, calcium (mg) 101