Chocolate Ganache Cake

So I wanted to be such a wonderful daughter and make a delicious cake for my mother's birthday slash mother's day! I have had this one particular cookbook for some time that was a decorating-information based cookbook and there had been this one cake I had wanted to try out for a really long time. The recipe was really simple...

Okay, okay. So I was lazy and decided just to do a from-the-box cake for this one, and some simple ganache. But the effect was amazing! I let the ganache cool enough that I could use it as frosting, and frosted both layers of the cake. Then, I put the leftover ganache in a bowl and warmed it with hot water in the sink (don't mix the water with the ganache, just let the bowl sit there until it gets all melty and delicious-like). 

Cake Recipe (you need double recipe for two-tier cake with 2 layers/tier)

1 box devil's food cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

1 1/3 cups water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well! Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 35 minutes for the bottom tier (9" square pan) and 25-32 minutes for the upper tier (5" square pan). Make sure a toothpick comes out clean when baking, as bake times may vary for different brands of cake mix. 

Use the back of the box for a more accurate reference for cooking times. Let cool for at least thirty minutes before trimming, stacking, and frosting. 

Ganache (I doubled the recipe for two tiers and since I am frosting and "dripping")

1 cup heavy cream

1 package (12 oz) semisweet chocolate morsels 

Heat cream in a small saucepan over low heat until small bubbles appear. Remove from the heat source and pour the cream over the chocolate morsels- stir until smooth. For ganache frosting, let cool for about an hour. To reheat ganache for dripping, place the extra ganache in a bowl and place the bowl in hot water- stir continuously to soften the ganache. 

To Decorate

Using a knife, slowly trim the top of each layer so that it is flat and even with the second layer of each tier (ex. the first layer of the bottom is the same height as the second layer of 

the bottom tier). Do a quick layer of frosting before stacking each tier. Crumb-coat the bottom tier with the cooled ganache, and gently place the top tier in the center of the bottom tier. Frost the top tier. Set in the fridge for 30-60 minutes and do a thin, second frosting layer to smooth out and cover all of the bumps from the crumb coat. To reheat ganache for dripping, place the extra ganache in a bowl and place the bowl in hot water- stir continuously to soften the ganache. Make sure it is warm and thin enough to "ooze" on the cake. Pour the bowl of warm ganache onto the top of the cake, and use a spatula to help guide it over to the sides of the cake so that it can ooze its way down.

Happy mother's day and birthday, Mama!