Easy Chocolate Ganache Frosting Recipe: By the Husband

It was my birthday last month. I did not have anything particular planned for the day - for me it was just another Thursday. Then, during a Skype chat session with my parents, my father mentioned it to my son that it was my birthday in 2 days. That got him excited and he started planning my birthday 'surprises' which included a 'surprise' birthday cake and a 'surprise' trip to the zoo. So on Wednesday, the husband (after a quick consultation with me - I had strongly recommended a box mix for the cake) bought the necessary supplies and they set off to bake the cake. I was pleasantly surprised how well the husband managed the hyper-active 4.75 year old in the kitchen - I tried baking with him twice and have miserably failed. He followed all the instructions to the tee and soon the batter was in the cake pans ready to be baked into 2 gorgeous cakes. 

Once the cake pans were in the oven, the 4.75 year old declared that baking a cake is too much work and marched off to play in his room. The husband took over and started making the frostings. He had very specific ideas - it was going to be a Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Filling, Mocha Whipped Cream Frosting and Chocolate Ganache Frosting. I confess - I was a little (okay, quite a bit) skeptical and thought it was too ambitious a project for him. But he was determined. He had a lot of questions about the techniques, watched a couple of joyofbaking videos and labored for couple of hours and produced a beautiful cake! Can it be more perfect!

You will find the recipe for Mocha Whipped Cream Frosting and tips and tricks for making the frosting and decoration here. He added dollops of the chocolate ganache frosting between the layers of cakes, spread it using an offset spatula and stacked the cakes neatly. If your cakes have a dome, be sure to level it by cutting the top off using a serrated knife. 

He followed the rest of the instructions, covered the cake with Mocha Whipped Cream Frosting, put it back in the fridge to let it chill. Then spooned on the chocolate ganache and using the back of a spoon spread it around gently towards the end. He wanted the drippy effect, but you can cover the entire cake in chocolate ganache, if you want (instructions below). For the Chocolate Ganache Frosting you will need: 

Ingredients: (Will cover a 9 inch cake, with a little leftover. So if you are doing a double layer cake, then just double the ingredients. This was enough to fill and frost the cake here)

• Chocolate Chips - 1 Cup (8 oz), I used semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chocolate bar chopped into small pieces) 
• Heavy Whipping Cream - 3/4 Cup
• Butter - 2 tbsp
• Coffee Liqueur - 1 tbsp (optional), I used Kahlua
• Instant coffee granules - a fat pinch

Put the chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle the instant coffee granules on the chocolate chips and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy whipping cream and butter over medium heat.  Once it starts simmering, pour it into the bowl with the chocolate chips. Let it stand for a couple of minutes allowing the heat from the cream-butter mix to melt the chocolate chips. Now gently stir the mixture with a wire whisk or a spoon until smooth. If you are using coffee liqueur, now would be the time to add it. 

If you are just using the chocolate ganache to frost your cake then

• Brush your cake with simple syrup (refer notes below)
• Chill your cake.
• Get rid of any loose crumbs from the cake's surface.
• Now, using a spatula spread a thin layer of chocolate ganache - this is called crumb coating or dirty icing. This step ensures that your cake will have a smooth finish by sealing in the loose crumbs. 
• Refrigerate the cake once again for few minutes, till the crumb coating sets.
• Now place the cake on a cake stand or a wire rack. Stick strips of parchment paper under the cake to catch the chocolate ganache drips. Once you are done just remove the strips gently. You can scrape off the excess ganache and re-use it after straining the crumbs out. 
• Spoon dollops of ganache on the center of the cake and spread it around with the spatula, push it over  the edges and cover the entire cake. Use big strokes to spread the ganache.

Notes: Leftover ganache can be refrigerated. 
Notes: For the Simple Syrup: Mix equal parts of water and sugar along with 1/8 tsp of coffee granules (or a fat pinch) and simmer till all the sugar dissolves. 

The husband's colleagues came over for an impromptu cake cutting 'party' post their soccer match at the park. They only had good things to say about the cake. 

Recipe adapted from joyofbaking.com.