I had to keep the pictures under wraps until Merrick officially got the cake. She might be lurking on Humzoo and spy the offering. It's safely tucked into the frig at work so I can share the pictures. Merrick loves layers of flavors and textures. My challenge each year is to achieve as many of each as I can manage in one cake without ruining the effect by overloading it with too many things. 
ShareThis year's cake is called a Six-Layer Toffee Torte. It's six layers of chocolate cake (with a hint of espresso in the cake), brown-sugar whipped cream filling and frosting (again with a hint of espresso), SKOR toffee-crumbles between the layers and covering the outside. I decorated it with some chocolate-covered espresso beans covered with asst. chocolates (white, milk, dark, etc)
I've got some cake envy going on!!