Dani's birthday cake

For Dani's birthday, she asked for a chocolate cake, really really chocolately, but not a torte or a brownie.  So I turned to the Mississippi Mud Cake for inspiration.  I used almond extract instead of whiskey, no particular reason.

But what's a birthday cake without some sort of icing or glaze?  A mud cake isn't designed to be frosted, so I decided to make the glaze that I use on the Chocolate Torte.  Still, I didn't want to lose the wonderful crackle pattern, so I tried pouring on the glaze while the cake was still warm.  What happened was that it soaked in, but formed a crunchy topping like what you'd find on a premium muffin!  We really liked it.  It's unconventional, but you might want to try it sometime too.