Just a cake
A cake with a little ganache.
Or maybe a little too much.
Nope. Not possible. Not sure there’s such a thing as too much ganache.
I like to eat it by the spoonful, but by the cakefull is even better.
The cake inside is chocolate. And actually the recipe for the chocolate cake in this post is not the actual cake in these pictures.
Why? Well, while it looks nice enough, it just wasn’t satisfied. So I made a few changes and made a better version the same day that I didn’t have time to decorate.
Instead, I’ve just been eating it straight up.
I like the simple look of the decorated one though.
High contrast.
The cake is frosted in buttercream first.
But for the middle layer of frosting, I tucked away a few of these inside.
Buttercream, speckled with miniature chocolate chips for kicks.
Perty!
Then the rest of the cake gets covered in plain white buttercream.
Easy enough.
Then comes the best part.
A reason to lick my spoon.
You’ll want the ganache to set up and thicken before you pour any on the cake.
Thicker, like this.
Oh my! Start pouring in the center, but be careful not to go too fast.
Ideally, you wouldn’t want too much to go over the sides and puddle around the cake.
Yeah, like this.
Okay, I got a little excited.
Ganache does that to me.
Now for the recipe of the second chocolate cake I made. The better one.
That said, I welcome any of your chocolate cake suggestions. I’m looking for the best homemade chocolate cake ever. Got one? Know of one? Care to share? This one’s good! But I’m not done searching.
What fun would that be anyway.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Frosting …and a good amount of ganache!
Chocolate Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup hot water
Buttercream Frosting:
1 1/2 cups butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups powdered sugar
4-8 Tablespoons milk
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels, if desired
Chocolate Ganache:
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease the bottom of two 9-inch cake pans. Then place parchment paper cut to size on the bottom of each pan and grease paper. Dust pans with cocoa.
- Sift dry ingredients together and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Add eggs, oil, milk and vanilla and beat for a couple of minutes until combined.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add hot water and mix together.
- Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 28-30 minutes. Batter will be very liquid.
- Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
For the frosting:
- Beat the butter in a mixer until smooth.
- Add vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add the powdered sugar in several additions, scraping down the sides after each addition.
- Add milk a tablespoon at a time and mix together until you achieve a smooth consistency.
- Note: If you want your frosting whiter without using shortening, add a little white icing color to tint.
For the ganache:
- Heat cream and butter in a saucepan until melted and remove before it starts to boil.
- Place chocolate morsels in a small bowl and pour cream on top. Let sit for a few seconds and whisk by hand until completely incorporated and smooth.
- Let cool until thick and pourable.
- The ganache can take a bit to thicken. You can make it before the buttercream, to save time. Just use a wire whisk to stir it every few minutes and keep it smooth
To assemble: trim tops off of cake layers with a long serrated knife so they have a nice, flat top. Place one layer bottom side up on cake stand. Mix about 2/3 cup morsels with about 1 cup of the frosting. Spread frosting on top of bottom layer. Place second layer on top. It helps to have a crumb coat on the outside of your cake first. Simply apply a thin coat of frosting to the entire cake to catch andy excess crumbs. Then place cake in freezer for a few minutes to firm up frosting and cover the entire cake again with a thick layer of buttercream. This will help you keep all those crumbs from getting caught in your pretty work. Slowly, pour ganache over center of cake. Pour just enough to start dripping down the sides.
Enjoy!
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