Chocolate Chocolate Ganache Cake

Cake #1:  Missionary Farewell Cake for Seth Hyde, July 14th, California San Fernando Mission.  Good luck Seth, we'll miss you!

Cake #2:  Mom's Birthday Cake, (July 17th), but we celebrated her birthday this year on Sunday July 21st.

I had the opportunity to make 2 cakes this month and they were both chocolate with chocolate ganache filling.  As a chronic chocoholic, chocolate cake is very high on my priority list.  I have chosen chocolate cake over my husband on more than one occasion and will do so again.  He knows this and is fine with being number two (hmmm... there are so many different kinds of chocolate he may have to settle for number three or four....or five.)

Ingredients, Assemble!

Chocolate Ganache

• 1 pint of Heavy Whipping Cream (16 oz or 2 cups)
• 8 oz (1 cup) chopped semi-sweet chocolate or 1:2 ratio which I use for chocolate ganache fillings in cakes and cupcakes.  You need to whip this one like whipped cream after it has cooled.

Heat the heavy whipping cream to almost a boil and pour over chocolate chunks.

Mix it until the chocolate is melted and smooth, then refrigerate.
Note to self:  Do not eat so much of the chocolate ganache that I don't have enough left for cake filling.

Chocolate Cake

This is a very forgiving chocolate cake recipe with no instructions on the order you need to add things.  You can dump everything in at once, mix it all together, and still end up with a gorgeous cake.  But since the majority of my other cake recipes calls for wet first, dry second, and milk last I tend to do things that way. 

• 1 and ⅔ cup flour
• 1 and ½ cup sugar
• ⅔ cup cocoa powder
• 1 and ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 and ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Beat all ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 min. Makes enough batter for two 8 to 9 inch round cake pans.

Shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

Add buttermilk last.

Bake for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Removed cooled chocolate ganache from the fridge.

Do it like Devo and whip it, whip it good.

Note # 2 to self:  Do not eat the chocolate ganache unless there is some left after filling the cakes (I know, I know that's the same as note #1, hey a girls gotta eat).

Filling the cakes.  I cut my two round cakes in half so I could have four layers of cake and three layers of chocolate ganache filling (if there is enough left of course) instead of just one in the middle of two cake layers.

ButterCream Frosting

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup butter – melted
• 2 tsp vanilla or other flavorings
• 4 Tbs heavy cream, milk, or water – Mix with beater
• 2 Tbs Meringue Powder
• 8 cups powdered sugar – Mix with a beater 1 cup at a time.
• Add more heavy cream or powdered sugar for the right consistency you want

And decorate.

I wanted to try one of those subtle gradual colored frosting ribbon cakes, but I accidentally dumped too much yellow in, so I scrapped that idea and just went for a couple of solid bands of color.  Nothing in my life is ever subtle or gradual anyway (except maybe my husband, which is why I don't get most of his jokes).

Here are my adorable parents ready to cut the cake.

Because three layers of chocolate ganache is better than just one.  My mother is also a chocoholic so I come by it naturally, genetics don't you know.

Missionary Farewell Cake.  Same thing only different.

We called him, Little Seth.

Little Seth next to Big Seth.

Or mini-Seth, or Tiny Him, whatever works.

This was my first large cake with home-made fondant.

This was also my first cake where I tried to make a humanoid figure on it out of marzipan and fondant.

Not too bad for my first try (Thanks to my husband for technical advice, your almost as good as chocolate my love.)

I also made gingersnaps and snickerdoodles to go with the cake for the farewell party.

I made the Missionary Cake first, on July 14th.

Then at the party, Mom asked me if she could have the same cake for her birthday.

Without the Missionary part, and a fresh cake not literally the same cake.

Enjoy.