What
lured me into trying these "Mocha Squares" from Scandi Foodie was their
background: Finnish. What does a Finnish Mocha Square taste like and
what makes it Finnish? Well. I do know the answer to one of those
questions: delicious.
I made these squares during one of our video game nights- just a bunch of dudes hanging out. Our friend, Brandon (aka Kuya), sat on the floor with me going through wedding magazines. He had just had his wisdom teeth removed and was running on empty. Real foods weren't doing it for him and he does not have a sweet tooth. I decided to make the squares on a whim- they looked soft and welcoming, maybe he'd at least nom on that.
So uh... Brandon ate about half the pan on his own which is unheard of. You're lucky if he'll eat more than a single cupcake! Sweets just aren't his thing. These squares were the perfect balance of super soft, slightly sweet cake topped with a thin layer of rich glaze, dusted with fine dried coconut. The cake is very light and airy- these should be renamed Mocha Cloud Squres. The glaze is rich and addictive (Mike wanted lots more glaze), as chocolate paired with coffee tends to be.
The new thing about this cake for me was ground vanilla. Honestly... I don't know how this is any different than vanilla extract. It does, however, smell like vanilla crack. There's almost a coffee scent. We stood around the kitchen taking turns sniffing the bottle. Don't hate.
For the recipe, check out Scandi Foodie! She also has a reduced fat version of this recipe as well.
