A Chocolate Lover's Birthday

A few months ago Traci (a huge fan of chocolate) emailed me this recipe from epicurious.com for Double Chocolate Layer Cake, http://www.epicurious.com/services/referral?messageKey=7de3274fec3510bc1a0b16e35a12277e. She had seen it on the Today Show who was featuring it as the most searched chocolate cake recipe on the site and suggested that one of us make it some time soon. So I took the opportunity to make it for her birthday yesterday afternoon.

I could not find Callebaut chocolate at Whole Foods so I choose Scharffen Berger Semi Sweet instead. The cake came together easily, however I thought I had wax paper but it turned out I didn't, so I improvised and generously buttered the bottom of the pans. This however did make the cakes difficult to remove, next time I will for sure use the wax paper on the bottom as the recipe instructs.

The frosting was a bit difficult, it is a ganache, however the consistency at first was too liquidity, so I put it in the fridge and then it got too firm.....the flavor was good, however it did make it difficult to frost and to make it look pretty. Next time I think I may try a traditional butter cream.

Off we went to La Perilla Mexican Restaurant with cake in tow to celebrate Traci's big day, were we all had great food and cocktails out on the patio, it was such a beautiful day.

Traci & Presley (also a chocolate lover at the young age of almost 3) were eager to try the cake, which everyone raved about. The texture was very moist and the flavor excellent, but I can't seem to figure out why it became so crumbly......oh well, just another reason to try again.

Happy Birthday Traci, I hope it's a great year!