Dark Chocolate Ganache Cake

Some time ago my friend made a cake for her mom's birthday and sent me a beautiful photo of it. Since I love my friend's cooking, I boldly asked for a piece. She agreed and a few days later I met the chocolate cake of my dreams: mildly sweet, moist, and extremely chocolatey. A few months later for my birthday, I requested this cake; Ever since then, my friend bakes me this cake every year for my birthday. I remember thinking that I needed to start celebrating half birthdays because one year was just too long to wait for this cake! My friend had sent me the recipe, but since there was about 40 steps, I never bothered. No amount of missing this cake ever motivated me to bake. What broke me finally was when I learned that another friend's little daughter was also in love with the cake (she looked forward to coming to my birthday celebrations for the cake), and so when she got baptized, I decided it was time to tackle this. Plus, if I ever moved away from Houston, I wouldn't be able to have this cake on my birthday anymore! Yes, there are a lot of steps, but I realized it's because the original recipe is extremely detailed and thorough. I know that I don't really need to put a new post for a recipe that already has TONS of photos and details, but since it is my FAVORITE cake, and super delicious, I wanted to write about it and document the process. It's definitely time consuming, but the results are SOOO worthwhile.

 Spongecake:

• 3 large eggs (leave in fridge until ready to use)
• 120g White Sugar
• 80g Unbleached Cake flour (I use King Arthur Flour Brand)
• 50mL Milk
• 30g unsalted butter
• 20g Cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting top of cake (I use Guittard Cocoa Rouge Unsweetened Cocoa Powder)

Chocolate Ganache

• 200mL Heavy Whipping Cream
• 200g dark chocolate chips (I use Guittard 63% Extra Dark Chocolate chips)

INSTRUCTIONS SPONGE CAKE: Preheat oven to 338F and line a 7" cake pan with parchment paper. You can spray some oil on the side of the pan to help the parchment stick to the pan. Separate egg whites and yolk. Place egg whites in a clean, dry mixing bowl and start beating with whisk attachment on medium until foamy. Once the eggs turn foamy, add about half of the sugar and continue whisking on high until the mixture has a creamy texture. Now add the rest of the sugar and continue whisking until you have a shiny meringe. When you pull up the whisk and the peaks stand up (instead of curving down to the side), the meringue is done. Add egg yolks to the meringue and mix well on medium low speed. Sift the cake flour into the batter, and fold it in with a rubber spatula. You do this by scooping along the side of the mixing bowl towards you (clockwise) with the spatula in your right hand, while turning the mixing bowl with your left hand counterclockwise. Repeat this several times until the flour is completely incorporated. Heat butter and milk (in microwave for about 1 minute 30s, or in a small pot) until butter melts and the mixture is warm. Sift in cocoa powder while mixing the liquid until a thick chocolate paste forms, and there are no lumps of cocoa powder. Make sure to sift, otherwise the batter will become lumpy. Add cocoa mixture into the cake batter a little at a time, and fold gently with each addition until completely incorporated. Pour the batter into the center of the parchment lined cake pan. When you are left with batter on the side of the bowl, use a spatula to scrape this batter off and pour it around the perimeter of the pan (instead of the middle) where it will bake faster.  Drop the cake pan from a height of 2-3" onto your counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 338F until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake. I would recommend checking the cake at 30 minutes, then check every 3-5 minutes afterwards to make sure you don't over bake.  Drop the cake pan from a height of 12" onto the counter as soon as it is done baking. This will prevent shrinkage. Carefully remove the cake from the pan and place it bottom side up on a moist kitchen towel (make sure it's tightly wrung out). Peel off the parchment paper on the side.  Place the cake pan over the cake (inverted) and leave it for 2-3 minutes. Remove the pan and the remaining parchment paper on the bottom of the cake. Turn the cake upside down and place on a cooling rack. Cover the cake with a moist kitchen towel (tightly wrung) and allow to cool. Once the spongecake has completely cooled, slice the cake into 3 layers horizontally. Store in a Ziploc bag with all the air pushed out; this prevents the cake from drying out. CHOCOLATE GANACHE: Heat heavy cream over medium heat in a sauce pan until the edges start to bubble. Remove cream from heat and whisk in the dark chocolate chips until they are completed melted. Allow ganache to cool before frosting the sponge cake. ASSEMBLING THE CAKE: Place one layer of cake on the bottom, and spread ganache evenly over the top. Place the second layer of cake over the first ganache frosted layer, and spread ganache evenly over the top of the second layer. Finally, place the third layer of ganache over the the first two layers and spread ganache over the top and sides of the cake.  Keep cake in the fridge, and dust cocoa powder over the top right before serving. Enjoy! Cake can be kept in the refrigerator for 2-3 days in airtight container. Otherwise cake can be frozen for up to 1 month.
PICTORIAL INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place egg whites in a clean, dry mixing bowl and start beating with whisk attachment on medium (speed 4) until foamy (pictured) 2.  Add about half of the sugar and continue whisking on high (speed 10) until the mixture has a creamy texture (pictured) 3.  Add the rest of the sugar and continue whisking on high (speed 10) until you have a shiny meringe. When you pull up the whisk and the peaks stand (instead of curving down to the bottom ), the meringue is done. (pictured) 4. Add egg yolks to the meringue and mix well on medium low (speed 3).
5. Sift the cake flour into the batter, and fold it in with a rubber spatula. You do this by scooping along the side of the mixing bowl towards you (clockwise) with the spatula in your right hand, while turning the mixing bowl with your left hand counterclockwise.  6. Repeat this several times until the flour is completely incorporated. Make sure not to overmix, as this will cause excess gluten formation leading to a tough, chewy texture that not good for cakes!
7. Heat butter and milk (in microwave for about 1 minute and a half, or in a small pot) until butter melts and the mixture is warm. Sift in cocoa powder while mixing the liquid until a thick chocolate paste forms, and there are no lumps of cocoa powder. 8. Add cocoa mixture into the cake batter a little at a time, and fold gently after every addition (with the same motion used earlier to mix in the flour, step 5) until completely incorporated.
9. Pour the batter into the center of the parchment lined cake pan.  10. Use a spatula to scrape off any batter left on the side of the mixing bowl and pour it around the perimeter of the pan (instead of the middle). The batter around the sides of the pan will bake faster than the batter in the middle of the pan. 10. Drop the cake pan from a height of 2-3" onto your counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.  11. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 338F until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake. I would recommend checking the cake at 30 minutes, then check every 3-5 minutes afterwards to make sure you don't over bake. 12. Drop the cake pan from a height of 12" onto the counter as soon as it is done baking. This will prevent shrinkage. 13.  Carefully remove the cake from the pan and place it bottom side up on a moist kitchen towel (make sure it's tightly wrung out). Peel off the parchment paper on the side. 14.  Place the cake pan over the cake (inverted) and leave it for 2-3 minutes. 15.  Remove the pan and the remaining parchment paper on the bottom of the cake. Turn the cake upside down and place on a cooling rack. 16.  Cover the cake with a moist kitchen towel (tightly wrung) and allow to cool.
17. Carefully slice the cake in 3 even layers.  18. Place one layer of cake on the bottom, and spread ganache evenly over the top. Place the second layer of cake over the first ganache frosted layer, and spread ganache evenly over the top of the second layer.  19.Finally, place the third layer of ganache over the the first two layers and spread ganache over the top and sides of the cake.  20. Place the cake in the fridge to cool and dust cocoa powder over the top and on the sides too.
Yum! Yum! Yum!