When living in the land of Chocolate...

Give them chocolate cake!!! This is my version of death by chocolate cake. It's simple, but takes time to do with all the layers and Ganache fillings etc. I still don't have my good camera yet... end of Feb. =)

Pure Decadence! Rich, dense and heavenly! 

 

What you need:

~For the cake~

1 box of chocolate cake mix

1 large instant pudding

200 Grams Mascarpone cheese

3 egg yolks

1Tsp Pure vanilla extract

1/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 Tbsp Heavy cream

9 Tbsp chopped chocolate

Let's get to work:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour 3 8 inch round or square cake pans. 
2. Follow the directions on the back of the cake mix box (make according to the box directions) and then add the additional ingredients above except the heavy cream and chopped chocolate.
3. When batter is mixed, pour evenly into the cake pans of your choice and sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the chopped chocolate on each cake pan but do not mix in.
4. Bake for about 25 minutes.
5. Let cool in pans 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.
6. After you turn the cakes out on the cooling racks, brush a tablespoon of heavy cream evenly over each cake layer.  Let cool completely.  Let's get going with the icing while your cake is cooling.

What you need:

~For the Ganach layers~

~White chocolate ganache~

1lb Good quality white chocolate (I like Lindt) chopped

3/4 Cup plus 2 Tbsp Heavy cream

1 Tbsp Butter

Let's get to work:

1. In a heavy sauce pot, bring the heavy cream and butter to a low boil where it's bubbling only on the sides of the pan
2. Pour over the chopped chocolate making sure all chocolate is covered and let stand for about 5 minutes before stirring.  After 5 minutes, whisk until nice and smooth and place in the fridge until firm, about an hour.

What you need:

~Dark Chocolate Ganache~

1 1/3 Cups plus 2 tbsp heavy cream

10 oz of bittersweet chocolate chopped, like Lindt 70% Cocoa chocolate works great!

Let's get to work:

1. Just as you did with the white chocolate, bring the cream to a slow boil and pour over the chopped chocolate. Leave for 5 minutes and whisk until smooth and place in the fridge for about an hour.

~Fudge Frosting~

What you need:

2 Cups of butter 

1/3 Cup Crisco

2 1/2 Cups Cocoa powder

2 Tsp Pure vanilla extract

1 Cup heavy cream

Let's get to work:

1. Cream butter and crisco and vanilla until fluffy. Whisk cocoa powder and powdered sugar in a bowl until incorporated. Gradually add to the butter mixture and keep adding heavy cream until the icing gets to a good spreading consistency.

~Cake assembly~

1. Place a cake layer on a serving plate and frost with White chocolate ganache.
2. Place another layer of cake on top of white chocolate and add the chocolate ganache to that layer and then finally place the last layer on and start frosting with the fudge frosting.
3. Garnish with white chocolate and chocolate shavings.  Then TOTALLY enjoy and heck with the calories!!