Luscious Chocolate Cake

This cake is from the Martha Stewart cookbook that Cassandra gave me for Christmas a few years ago. I made it for Zara's first birthday, and it's really delicious! I used buttercream frosting between the layers and for the crumb coat, and cream cheese frosting for the outside, but I've used the whipped ganache for another cake and it's heavenly. The frosting and ganache recipes are posted individually.

Makes one 9-inch 3-layer cake; serves 8-10.

You will need 3 9x2-inch cake pans. If you want to use 8-inch cake pans for this (you will have batter left over), fill them halfway, and place them on a baking sheet before sliding them in the oven.

I used a 7-inch springform pan to make 2 layers, and it seemed to turn out ok, although I had batter left over.

ingredients
1 C plus 2 T unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans and parchment
1/2 C plus 1 T best-quality cocoa powder, plus more for pans
1/4 C plus 2 T boiling water
3/4 C milk
2 1/4 C sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 3/4 C sugar
2 t pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Whipped Ganache
Ganache Glaze
or
Buttercream Frosting
or
Cream Cheese Frosting

method
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/160C convection with two racks centred. Butter three 9x2-inch cake pans, and line with parchment paper; butter and dust the bottoms and sides of the pans with cocoa. tap out the excess. Sift the cocoa into a medium bowl; stir in the boiling water until smooth; gradually whisk in the milk. Set aside to cool.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Set aside. in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on low until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar, scraping down the sides twice. Beat in the vanilla.

Add the eggs, a third at a time, beating after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the reserved cocoa mixture a little at a time, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Divide batter evenly among pans; spread with an offset spatula until level.

Bake, rotating pans if necessary, until a cake tester inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer teh pans to a wire rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans, remove the paper, and return to the rack to cool, top-side up.

With a long serrated knife, trip the top of each cake layer until level. Transfer one layer to a cardboard cake round. (I transferred one layer to the bottom of my springform pan and it worked perfectly.) Spread about 1 1/4 C of the whipped ganache on the cake. Top with a second layer. Repeat. Spread the remaining whipped ganache evenly over the top and sides of the cake so seal in the crumbs and form a smooth surface. Chill until the crumb coat is firm, about 30 minutes.

Place the cake (still on the cardboard cake round) on a wire rack set in a baking pan. Pour enough ganache glaze over the cake to fully coat, shaking the pan gently to help spread the ganache if necessary. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. The ganache in the baking pan maybe strained through a fine sieve and added back to the glaze. Pour the remaining glaze over the cake; allow excess to drip off sides. If top is not smooth, gently shake  pan, or run an offset spatula quickly over the surface. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.