Cake Ingredients:
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon nescafe espresso powder
1/2 cup almond milk (or whole milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
2 cups dark brown sugar
4 eggs
Chocolate Ganache:
2 cups heavy cream
1 bag Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (340g)
Instructions
Cake Layers
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Butter 2 round cake pans (I used 9 inch pans)
3. Whisk together water, cocoa and espresso powder until smooth.
4. Add and whisk in the vanilla and milk/almond milk.
5. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
6. In a large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add in eggs and beat till smooth.
7. Slowly add in flour mixture and cocoa mixture in small amounts in this order until all is well mixed.
8 Divide the batter between the two pans, ensure the tops are as smooth as you can get them.
9. Bake in the oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let cool in pan for approximately 30 minutes.
11. Invert the cakes onto a plate or a rack and let cool completely to room temperature.
Chocolate Ganache*
1. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer, then immediately put it on low.
2. Whisk in chocolate until smooth.
3. Remove saucepan from heat and let ganache cool, covered. Stir occasionally until thickened but spreadable (approx. 3-4 hours; a little faster if you watch carefully cooling it in the fridge).
* Ganache can be made ahead of time. If ganache is too thick to spread, let it sit at room temperature until slightly softened before spreading it on the cake.
Cake Assembly
1. Place 1 layer of the cake on a plate and spread the chocolate ganache evenly over top of it.
2. Place this first layer back in the fridge for approximately 10 minutes to allow it to solidify.
3. Remove first layer from fridge.
4. Place second layer of cake on top of the first and spread ganache even over the entire cake.
5. Chill cake until ganache is firm (at least 1 hour).
6. Serve immediately and Enjoy!
❤ ❤ Made with ingredients found in Tamarindo, Costa Rica ❤ ❤
