Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting and Chocolate Ganache

This chocolate cake is absolutely delicious. I don't usually enjoy chocolate cake but this one was so soft, light and moist. Then there is ganache. I love ganache. This cake not only has a buttercream frosting, it also has chocolate ganache poured on top. Chocolate cake..with chocolate ganache. It was very good. Not to mention I had left over ganache that I greedily ate.

This recipe is taken from legendary cake pop creator, Bakerella (2012). Trust me folks, this is a chocolate cake to try. It was very easy to make and so delicious. 

1 1/2 cups plain (all purpose) flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable

2 tsp vanilla 

3/4 cup milk

2/3 hot water

Preheat oven to 180'C (350'F). 

Grease 6 4" or 10cm cake tins with the removable bottoms. Sift dry ingredients together and put in a large bowl. Add eggs, oil, milk, vanilla and beat until combined. Add hot water and mix. Pour into cake tins and bake for 28-30 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Buttercream Frosting

1 1/2 cups butter

1 tsp vanilla

6 cups icing sugar

4-8 tbs milk

Beat butter until smooth and add vanilla until combined. Add icing sugar in several additions. Add milk a tablespoon at a time and mix until you get a smooth consistency.

Chocolate Ganache

3/4 cup thickened (heavy) cream

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels ( I used waaay more than 3/4 cup but start off with that and add more if you want)

Heat cream and butter in a saucepan until melted and remove. Put chocolate in a bowl and poor hot cream mixture on top. Whisk by hand until completely smooth. Let cool until thick.

Putting it together

Cool the cakes in the freezer. Take out and carefully cut the tops off so the cakes are level. Put a dollap of frosting on one cake and put another cake on top. Do a crumb coat by covering the cake in a light layer of frosting so all the crumbs get caught. Let them cool and then put a thicker layer of the frosting on the cakes until you can't see any colour. When the ganache is thick, pour on top slowly. Make sure not to let it all pool around the bottom of the cake.

Bakerella. (2012). Just a Cake. Retrieved from http://www.bakerella.com/just-a-cake/