Chocolate Love...

So my friend Angie was sweet enough to feature me on her blog and say a lot of nice things about me and my cakes. And she's also been having kind of a crappy week. So I wanted to thank her, cheer her up, and give her a little comfort. So I made her this cake.
I call it 'Chocolate Decadence', because that's exactly what it is. Not your everyday, "oh, I think I'll whip up a cake" cake. This is reserved for special occasions. And for a serious chocolate fix.
I decided to take pictures as I put the cake together, so you could get an idea of what all is going on in there. ;-)

This is a chocolate fudge cake, made with buttermilk, extra vanilla, and chocolate chips.

On this first layer, I've spread on some thick chocolate ganache. (Bring heavy cream just to a boil, and pour over chopped chocolate. Stir til silky and melted, add some pure vanilla, and you've got a bowl full of sin right there.)

I covered the *bottom* of the second layer with chocolate buttercream. I gave the ganache layer a little time to firm up and then sandwiched the two together.


I then frosted the whole cake with chocolate buttercream, put dollops of frosting on the top of the cake, garnished with Lindt chocolate hazelnut truffles, and using a sandwich baggy with the end snipped off, I drizzled ganache over the whole thing.



I think I gained several pounds making this thing. It feels like it seeped through my pores. I swear, I feel heavier just thinking about it.