Dark Chocolate Cake

​I love to celebrate birthdays (Especially when they're not my own.)  A couple of weeks ago, I got to celebrate the birthday of a very special friend.   She is a wonderful person and I wanted to make her a cake that was just as sweet as she is.  

A dark chocolate four layer cake filled with fluffy whipped cream and topped with a rich chocolate ganache should fit the bill.  

​I found this recipe for chocolate cake on chasingdelicious.com.  I followed the directions for the cake pretty closely but I swapped out the dark chocolate filling for a lighter whipped cream filling.  I also skipped the milk chocolate buttercream frosting that was on the pictured his cake.   I was a little worried that adding all that chocolate might be too much for some people.   (Not everyone is a chocoholic like me.)   You can decide for yourself which version of this delicious cake you would like to make.  

​Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake
2 cups + 2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup freshly brewed coffee
20 Tablespoons butter 

Line two 9" round cake pans with parchment.  ​ Spray with cooking spray.  

​Combine sugar, cocoa, flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

​Beat eggs for 1 minute.

​Add buttermilk, sour cream and vanilla.

​Add dry ingredients.

Add melted butter and coffee.

​Divide batter between prepared pans.

​Bake 37 minutes.

​Cool 10 minutes in pan then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

​I sliced each layer in half to make 4 equal cake layers.  I spread whipped cream on the bottom layer, topped that with another layer of cake and repeated that process 2 more times.  

​Now it was decision time.   I didn't want to take away from the rich, moist cake by adding a chocolate buttercream but I didn't want to leave my cake unfrosted either.  My solution?  Pour a thick layer of chocolate ganache over the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides.  

Happy Birthday sweet friend.


Ciao!

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