6 Layer Chocolate Cake

Hi everyone! I’m alive!

Sorry I disappeared for the longest time, but everything has been so hectic lately. I have to juggle 24 hours of work, 6 hours of school, infinite hours of studying and of course the hockey games for the cup!!!!

If you’re a Bruins fan, don’t tell me. Ignorance is bliss 🙂

I haven’t been on any blogs, not even my own, since friday! I need to catch up on your lives and share your joy/pain and cheer for your accomplishments. I’ll start reading your blogs again soon, I miss them so much 🙁

Ok moving on to the cake! I’ve been wanting to make this since last year. I know, that’s a loonnnng time ago right?

I got the idea a couple years back though, on a Valentine’s day date with my ex. We ate at the Mosaic restaurant in the Hyatt hotel. They had this dessert called the Chocolate Chocolate. I, of course, being the chocolate fiend that I am, ordered that even though I had no clue exactly what it was. As I waited for this mystery dessert, I pondered on what it might be. A rich chocolate pudding? A moist chocolate lava cake with a scoop of chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce? Oh who cares I want it now!!!

Then the waiter finally came back and placed this REALLY tall chocolate cake in front of me. I squealed.

The outside was covered with a hard layer of milk chocolate. The inside was 3 thick layers of moist chocolate cake layered with light but extremely rich chocolate frosting.

In my attempt to replicate it, I made 6 thinner layers sandwiched and covered with a whipped dark chocolate ganache. Instead of covering the whole thing in just chocolate though, I used a semi-sweet chocolate ganache.

Not to toot my own horn or anything but IT WAS SO GOOD. It’s even better than “the best thing I’ve ever made” that I posted about back in September.

It was moist, tall and full of frosting, just like any chocolate cake should be. And like with most of the things I make, I ate approx 60% of it. 10% went to my brother’s friends and they were like OMG THIS IS SO GOOD WHERE DID YOU BUY THIS. I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not…

Why did no one else want it you may ask? Here let me show you the typical conversation between me and my fam members when I offer them dessert.

Me: “Hey Becks! WANT SOME CAKE?! LOOK AT HOW PRETTY IT IS!!!!”
Becks (the sister): “mmm, maybe later, don’t feel like cake right now”

Me: “Hey B! (stands for baby brother, but I think I’m gonna stop calling him that soon since my friends said that’s what girlfriends call their boyfriends, ewww incest..) want some CHOCOLATE cake?!”
B the baby brother: “No not really.”

Me: “Dad, you have to try this cake, it’s not too sweet, just right!”
Dad: “No you always make things too sweet for my taste, I don’t want it.”

I don’t even bother asking my mom cuz it’s just gonna be another “no”. I face rejection after rejection after rejection. That is why I started a blog, to find people of my kind 🙂

There is an up-side to all the rejection though, MORE CAKE FOR ME!!

6 Layer Chocolate Cake

For the cake:
1 batch of this recipe.

For the whipped ganache:
16 oz chopped semi-sweet chocolate.
2 cups heavy cream

For the ganache:
8 oz chopped milk chocolate
1 cup heavy cream

How To:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Make the cake batter as directed. Butter and flour  or parchment a cookie sheet. Pour into a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for approx 15 mins until set. Times will vary for everyone just look for visual cues ie rising of the cake, peeling of cake away from sides etc. There’s always the toothpick trick, if an inserted toothpick comes out clean, it’s done!

3. Cool the cake in the pan.

4. While the cake is cooling make the whipped ganache. Chop up the chocolate and place into a bowl. Microwave the heavy cream until it just simmers. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate then cover the bowl with tin foil and let it stand for 5 mins. After 5 mins, peel off the tin foil and stir until the mixture is homogeneous. Let that cool in the fridge until it is cold enough for whipping.

5. Make the ganache for the outside of the cake the same way as outlined in step 4.

6. Once the cake has cooled, cut it in half vertically then into thirds horizontally.

7. Whip the first batch of ganache with cold beaters until it can hold soft peaks. Do not over whip or else the mixture will separate! Place that back into the fridge.

8. Layer a plate with wax paper and place the first piece of cake into it. Spread some of the whipped ganache onto it but leave 1 cm of the edges unfrosted.

9. Spread some whipped ganache on the next layer of cake, then transfer the cake layer and place it on top of the first layer. Doing this helps prevent the whipped ganache from squishing out of the cake. 

10. Keep doing this until all the cake layers are stacked and frosted. If you have a warm kitchen you want to do this fast as the whipped ganache doesn’t really hold well and will start to melt.

11. With the leftover whipped ganache, spread it all over the outside of the cake, kinda like a crumb coat.

12. Place that back into the fridge for about 5 mins just for everything to set.

13. Take the cake and the unwhipped ganache out of the fridge. Pour the unwhipped ganache over the entire cake slowly. 

14. Place back into fridge for 5 mins. Remove the wax paper from underneath. Admire how pretty the cake looks then DIG IN!