At work, we don't really need an excuse to have cake in my department. That being said, we never complain when we DO have an excuse. Two of my coworkers from our Sydney, Australia lab are in this week for some meetings, and one had her birthday last week. So, I tried my hand at cake decorating for the first time (the picture you see is the result). It's a cake I'd made before, but had never really tried decorating. It's a fantastic cake and really easy to make, so go nuts.

Chocolate Layer Cake with White Chocolate - Raspberry Ganache

Cake:
1 stick of butter, room temperature (that part is VERY important)
1 1/3 c sugar
1/4 c vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted (alternatively, 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder + 3 tbsp vegetable oil)

2 c cake flour (all purpose will work if necessary)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c chocolate or coffee liqueur
1 c buttermilk

1/2 c chocolate or coffee liqueur (not a typo, you need a whole cup, you just use it two different ways)

Ganache:

8 oz white chocolate chips
1 c cream
2 tbsp butter
3 Tbsp raspberry liqueur or raspberry jam

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line two 9 x 2 round cake pans with parchment paper. Make sure the sides of the pan are greased and dusted with cocoa powder.

Whip the butter and sugar together for about 2 minutes, or until it's light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the oil and beat to combine. Stir in the melted chocolate.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, soda, and salt. Add a third of the flour mixture to the eggs and butter. Stir until JUST combined. Add half the milk and liqueur combo and stir in. Repeat with the rest of the flour and milk, alternating. Don't overmix. The cake will be chewy if you do.

Split the cake batter evenly between the two pans (seriously, I nerded out about it and used my scale. Each cake ended up weighing about 640 grams. Yours will be similarly sized) and place in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack until room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator completely before continuing. After chilled, brush the tops with the liqueur and place back in the fridge.

To make the ganache. heat the cream over medium-low heat until bubbles JUST start to form. Place the rest of the ingredients in another bowl, and pour the hot cream over them. Allow this to sit for 5 minutes WITHOUT TOUCHING IT. After 5 minutes, whisk vigorously till smooth. Allow this to cool to room temperature -- it will thicken to a spreadable consistency. You will have enough to go between the layers and frost the entire cake.

No metal this week. Metal goes great with food. Not so much with cake. What are you all listening to lately?

Baby Huey actually prefers pie to cake.

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