Chocolate Cake with Ganache

I've been talking about making a chocolate cake for a while now, though remained unsure on how to go about it. I could look up a recipe online, but what's the fun in that? I've used baking chocolate, chocolate chips, and cocoa powder in past recipes, so I applied a few modifications here and there for this creation. The resulting Chocolate Cake with Ganache was a light, bouncy, yet rich double-layer cake that was claimed quickly by my chocolate-loving friends. The whipped cream sandwiched between, also used as the crumb coat, helped, though there was surely enough Ganache to go around (if a chocolate-only cake was my goal).

Ingredients

Servings: 12 servings

Prep Time: ~1hr 25min

Cake

1 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour + more for pans

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Salt

2 oz Baker's Chocolate, Unsweetened, Chopped

1/4 Cup Butter + more for pans

1 1/2 Cups Sugar, granulated

1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup Milk, Nonfat

1/2 Cup Hot Coffee

2 Large Eggs, at room temperature

Whipped Cream

1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1/4 Cup Sugar, Granulated

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

2 Cups Rich Chocolate Ganache (see recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set Aside. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter on low-medium heat until softened. Remove from heat and stir (return to heat for 1-2 minutes longer if not melting). Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract, followed by the vegetable oil, until smooth. 

Whisk eggs and milk into the flour mixture, then fold in the melted chocolate (can use mixer on low setting). Slowly add the hot coffee until integrated. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9" cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until inserted knife comes out clean. Set aside to cool. When room temperature, remove cakes from baking pans. Use a serrated blade to remove the dome-shaped top to ease the frosting (if cake is too soft, freeze for 15-30 minutes to firm up before finishing the serration). --> See previous layer cake recipes on eatTALK.net for more instruction.

Whip the heavy whipping cream with sugar and vanilla until the form holds when a spatula is run through. Place one of the cake layers onto a plate. Scoop half of the whipped cream onto the bottom layer and spread until 1/2" from edges. Place the second cake layer on top and press down lightly until cream spreads to the edge. Spread the remainder of the whipped cream evenly across the cake until smooth. Place the cake in freezer for approximately 1 hour.

After about 40 minutes, prepare the Rich Chocolate Ganache (see recipe) without flavoring and allow to reduce to JUST warmer than room room temperature (you should still be able to pour the ganache).

1. First, using a cake spatula, spread a light coating of ganache around the side of the cake. 
2. Then, pour the ganache directly into the center of the cake. 
3. Finally, rotate the cake at varying angles to spread the ganache evenly across the top and over its sides, facilitated by cake spatula. Continue this until desired coating is achieved. 

Set in the fridge to set and remove cake 15 minutes before serving. In my version, I added milk chocolate shavings along the sides for decoration. I also scored the cake after the ganache set to make cutting the slices a little easier. Enjoy!!