The Chocolate Cake

So for Easter I made my favorite chocolate cake. I got this recipe from a friend in San Antonio, and do my best NOT to make it very often because I could eat the whole thing by myself. Anyway, here's the recipe.

Make it the day before you're going to serve it. It tastes much better after it's chilled in the fridge for a full day.

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake

1 box Betty Crocker super moist devils food cake mix, dry
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
8 ounces sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

For Ganache Icing
1 cup whipping cream
12 ounces (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 stick butter, at room temperature

For Whipped Cream filling
8 ounces whipping cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Other important items
1 container regular chocolate frosting (I use pillsbury)
3 round cake pans
waxed paper
frosting spatula

First, remove a stick of butter from the fridge and set it on the counter- for the ganache icing.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 3 round cake pans on a sheet of waxed paper and trace around the bottom. Cut the paper circles out. Butter the bottoms and sides of cake pans, then place the paper circles into the bottom, and grease again and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add sour cream, oil, and water. Mix until well blended. Add cake mix and pudding and mix until smoothe. Add the chocolate chips (I usually don't add these). Pour the batter evenly into the three cake pans and place in the oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake or it will be dry.

Right after you place the cake in the oven, you can begin the ganache icing. Place 2 cups of chocolate chips in a bowl. Heat 1 cup of cream in a sauce pan, until it's just about to boil. Pour cream over the chocolate chips and let sit for 2 minutes. Then use a wire wisk to mix the chocolate until smoothe. Leave it on the counter until the chocolate is completely cooled - unually takes about an hour. When the chocolate is cooled add the room temperature butter and mix well. Do not add butter to warm chocolate, or the ganache will be too runny.

When the cakes are cooled and ganache is ready, you can assemble the cake. On a cake stand, place a small amount of pillsbury choclate frosting in the center. This will help the cake from shifting on the stand. Lay the bottom layer of chocolate cake on the stand upside down (don't forget to remove the waxed paper). Next, take a ziploc bag and add 1/2 cup pillsbury chocolate frosting. Close the bag and snip the corner. Pipe a 1/2 inch sized bead of frosting around the circumference of the cake. This baracade will hold the ganache on the cake, so it won't ooze down the sides. Add 1/4 cup (or more depending on how much you like) of the ganache to the top of the first cake and spread evenly to the frosting edge. Lay the second cake on top, upside down. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. The rest of the ganache will be used to frost the cake.

In the mean time, make the whipped cream layer. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream until it begins to get thick. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat to stiff peaks, but before it turns to butter. Remove the cake from the fridge and make another frosting baracade with the ziploc frosting bag. Add all the cream to the top of the cake and place the last cake on top, upside down.

Now it's time to frost the cake. Use the frosting spatatula to evenly spead ganache around the sides and top of the cake, in a thin layer. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to harden. Remove cake and frost again, then chill again - repeating the process until all the ganache is used. To get a really smoothe look, dip the spatula in hot water and shake off excess water, between frostings. Chill the cake over night. The cake doesn't need to be covered in the fridge because the ganache hardens and keeps the cake airtight and moist. Decorate the top with fresh flowers or awesome frosting decorations

Here's the inside. It's wonderful.