Mmm, cake

Dave chose the Martha Stewart Rich Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting for his birthday this year. It was delicious and looks impressive (even if you have a three-year-old helping!), so I thought I'd share it here. It isn't a difficult recipe, though the multiple chilling periods for the ganache make it a little time-consuming. I originally found the recipe adapted into mini-tortes on Annie's Eats. 

We made a few minor changes from the original recipe:

• Used 8"x2" cake pans because Hobby Lobby didn't have the 7"x3". One of the commenters on Martha's recipe made the same substitution and noted that she baked the cakes for 35 minutes instead of 45, so I'd start checking ours at 35 next time to avoid overcooking.
• Used instant coffee granules because we didn't have instant espresso. Either way, the purpose is to enhance the chocolate flavor. It doesn't actually make it taste like coffee.
• Used bittersweet chocolate for the top layer of ganache because it was what we had on hand.
• Melted the ganache ingredients in the microwave instead of a double boiler. It's easier, and if it's good enough for Alton Brown, it's good enough for us.
• Left off the chocolate shavings & truffle eggs. It looks impressive even without that. 
• Martha's recipe says it's 8 servings, but I'd estimate we got at least 10 because we used 8" cake pans and due to the cake's richness and density.

Rich Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting and Truffle-Egg Nest

Martha Stewart Living, May 2007 
Adapted from Martha Stewart.com 

Ingredients

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Whipped Ganache Frosting:
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Top Ganache Layer:
  
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• Optional:
• 1 pound bar of milk chocolate for chocolate shavings
• Truffle Eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 3-inch-high, 7-inch-round cake pans with cooking spray; line bottoms with parchment paper. Coat parchment with cooking spray, and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa and espresso powders and water; whisk until dissolved. Whisk in sugar until smooth. Remove from heat, and whisk in eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; whisk until combined.
3. Divide batter among prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 45 minutes (start checking @ 35-40). Let cool 20 minutes. Unmold, and remove parchment; let cool.
4. Make whipped ganache: Put 8 oz. chocolate and 1/2 cup cream into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth. Alternately, melt in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat in 15 second increments until melted. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until the consistency of stiff cream cheese, about 10 to 15 minutes (ours took about 20). Whisk until fluffy and smooth.
5. Trim tops of cake layers level. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Spread with 1/2 cup ganache frosting. Place remaining layer, cut side down, on top. Coat top and sides with remaining cup frosting. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
6. Put remaining 8 oz. chocolate, 3/4 cup cream, and corn syrup into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, and stir until smooth. Let cool 5 minutes. Pour over cake, and then refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Transfer cake to serving dish.
7. Optional decorations:
1. Using a chef's knife, scrape milk chocolate bar at a 90-degree angle, forming enough curls and shards to measure 1 1/2 cups. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. When ready to serve, form a nest with chocolate shavings on top, and fill with truffle eggs.

A Good Day

Warm weather, a cheerful Ben, a visit to the fish and ducks at Bass Pro Shop, and a smile from Elizabeth. Can't ask for much more from a Saturday!

Photos, part 2

By grandparents' demand, here are a few more recent pictures of life at our house:
 
The weather has been crazy, with dustings of snow followed by 60 degree days. Today is supposed to be 70 and windy. Beautiful, but wreaking havoc with our sinuses! Ben has loved going outside to ride his tricycle and argues when it's time to come in.

Dave's birthday was last week, so Ben helped me put two layers of ganache on Martha Stewart's Rich Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting, found via Annie's Eats. It turned out very good - rich and dense and delicious! It was an easy cake to make as well, but required several chilling periods for the ganache. I would definitely make it again. Elizabeth napped in the Moby while we worked on one layer.

 

Elizabeth smiling at the lion from my 427 Girls. She really seemed interested in it that day. She's on a hand-crocheted blanket from our friend Mikaela, who also made one for Ben when he was a baby.

Ben came down for breakfast last weekend and said, "I want to spell 'Opa.'" He did it without help, then proceeded to add a bunch of other random letters and ask me what it now spelled. I'm not sure what this face was about, but he wasn't actually mad!

I made some new play dough last week and while it was cooking, Ben had a ball with extra flour. The amount of time he was absorbed in measuring and pouring it was definitely worth the clean-up! He loves wearing his custom apron from Dena!

Photos, part 1

Elizabeth is 7 weeks old now and continues to prefer cuddling herself into positions that look incredibly uncomfortable. But woe to the person who tries to readjust her! She has been sleeping through most of the nights, which is lovely, but spent last week demanding to be fed so frequently during the day that it was still exhausting. She is starting to attend a little more to things around her; she seemed to like the sound of a chime toy we got from Ben's baby stash and stopped crying yesterday when we started listening to music.

  

We took Ben bowling for the first time a few weeks ago. He and our friends' kids lasted a few frames before running off in search of the games and vending machines with the most flashing lights and loud sounds. When Rob commandeered the dinosaur-shaped kiddie bowling ramp, they came back and had fun finishing off a few more frames. Thankfully, this hasn't brought about the return of "GO BOWLING!" which Ben had been using as a bizarre preschooler epithet a few months back.  We still can't figure out why he decided it was some sort of an insult!

A few more Elizabeth pictures:

This isn't exactly up to the level of the Angry Faces of Ben collection, but she really does look a lot like him!

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!

We got a great Groupon deal last week for a Missouri Comets indoor soccer game and took the kids there this afternoon. Their arena is only about ten minutes from our house and the tickets were a great deal, so we figured if the kids needed to leave early, it wouldn't be a big deal to leave. When we got there, the arena was dark and kind of loud for the team entrances, and Ben got a little freaked out, but once the lights came up and the game started he enjoyed himself. The scoring was a bit of a mystery as the point amount apparently depends on where the goal is shot from, but a great save in the last 30 seconds preserved the Comets' lead and they won 13-11. The new arena is very nice and there really wasn't a bad seat in the house.

Ben will tell you (and probably his entire preschool class!) that his favorite part was the last minute of the game where two of the players got in time out (penalty box) for fighting. We'd talked about this before when watching a hockey game on TV, with Ben telling the fighting players "just walk away!" but I guess it really stuck with him tonight and the "time out" became the most memorable part!


Ben is in that phase where when you ask him to smile, he grimaces in a funny way, kind of like a bear baring his teeth. Dave has been trying to practice smiling with him but it hasn't stuck yet!

Other than while drinking a bottle at the beginning of the game, Elizabeth was in the ring sling for the whole game and did very well. She fell asleep quickly and seemed comfortable while we were sitting down and during our walk with a slightly restless Ben during the third quarter. I'm borrowing this sling from our local babywearing group but like it so well that I'm planning to buy one as soon as I can decide on colors. It's also been great for short trips to the grocery store, library, or Target. I think for next time we're somewhere for an extended period, I'd try wearing her in our stretchy wrap for comfort, but the ring sling was pretty comfortable too.

One month old!

At one month old, Elizabeth:

• Still likes to sleep most of the day but is having more awake time
• Loves being cuddled (we don't mind obliging!)
• Often curls herself into the most awkward-looking positions when she's being held, but squawks if you try to reposition her
• Has done pretty well when carried in the two wraps (a Moby and a borrowed ring sling) at home or out on short shopping excursions
• Does not think much of the vitamin drops the pediatrician recommended (they stink!)
• Has outgrown most of her newborn clothes at least in length
• Thinks that turning the light out at night = time to eat, even if she'd just been fed a half hour earlier
• Delights her brother when she opens her eyes and looks toward him

A few more pictures

I put Elizabeth on Ben's bed the other day after I changed her diaper. Ben came in and wanted her scooted up so she could share his pillow. He was so sweet and talked to her for a few minutes about his big boy bed and his construction equipment sheets.

I made Elizabeth a football onesie for our Super Bowl party using these directions I found while looking through some of the great ideas on Pinterest. She looked really cute and was very calm throughout the night and seemed to enjoy being cuddled the whole night by our friends! Ben enjoyed all of the food, playing with his friends, and the Coke polar bear commercial ("Mommy! I see polar bears! They're my favorite animals!"). He didn't seem to notice any of the football going on.

A good alert moment from this afternoon: