grandma's birthday cake

after having swallowed too many bites of those awful carmel ice cream cakes, my sister and i began making our grandmother's birthday cake every year. for the past four years or so, we've made variations on the same cake for her birthday, which falls on december 26th.

this year would be no different from the rest; the desired cake would be chocolate with chocolate frosting, with cherries somehow involved in the whole shebang. i was away from my very infrequently updated recipe file, which contains the chocolate cake recipe from American Classics, one of the America's Test Kitchen cookbooks - which is, notably, different from the one in The Best Recipe. this recipe is my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and i have not yet found one to rival it. however, it was 25 miles away, so i consulted epicurious.com.

197 recipes later, i had chosen a cake - the chocolate layer cake with milk chocolate frosting. however, i wasn't particularly excited about a milk chocolate frosting, so i sifted through more icing recipes until i had a great idea. the chocolate frosting i've liked most during my years of baking experience is a chocolate frosting from Cook's Illustrated, specifically the whipped ganache that went with yellow cupcakes. when i made them last december, i slightly overbaked the cupcakes, and accordingly the combination was forgotten through the mediocrity of the overall result. however, the frosting had been fantastic - it was a regular ganache, but whipped.

what the whipping does is eliminate the problem of waiting for the ganache to set. after you make the ganache in the food processor, you whisk it over an ice bath until it loses its glossiness, and then beat away with an electric mixer. in under 5 minutes, you have a frosting that has the consistency of a buttercream frosting, but the wonderful taste of ganache.

the final cake was a four-layer cake, filled with the whipped ganache and a layer of cherry compote in the middle. the four layers come from two 9" cakes, each split in half and leveled. the nicest thing about the chocolate cake recipe was that it baked up quite flat, which seems to be a rarity these days. the result is a cake that is quite tall.

i was somewhat disappointed by the cake recipe; it was possibly slightly overbaked, but only by one or two minutes, and that it was overbaked in that small amount of time is really a shame. i would have liked to have made the American Classics chocolate cake, and would substitute that the next time i make a chocolate layer cake. however, the ganache was great, and there is a world of difference between the drama of a three-layer cake and that of a four-layer cake. people are always more impressed by the four-layer cake, even if it was easier to make, so if you are trying to impress, go for more layers. the next time i make this particular kind of cake, i would also probably fill it with two different kinds of chocolate mousse or something like that, to give it a little more luxe.

chocolate layer cake #1
cherry compote
2 jars cherries from trader joe's
1/2c sugar
1/4c amaretto

whipped ganache
note: multiply by 2 if you just want to frost the outside of the cake, 3 if you want to frost and fill it)
3/4c heavy cream
2T butter
6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (your ganache is only as good as the chocolate)
1T cognac (or other liqueur)

2 9" chocolate layer cakes

[1] split the chocolate layer cakes in half: using a long serrated knife - preferably a bread knife - insert the knife into the side of the cake and continue cutting through the cake horizontally until you have the two halves. separate the halves and level them. repeat for the other layer.

[2] make the cherry compote: cut the cherries in half and place in a medium saucepan with about half of the liquid (a quarter if you're short on time). add the liqueur and sugar, and turn the heat to medium high. the idea is to bring the mixture to a simmer, and to simmer it until the liquid has very nearly evaporated. stir it fairly frequently, and more frequently towards the end, otherwise the mixture might burn. towards the end you may also want to turn the heat down to medium-low.

[3] make the ganache: chop the chocolate fairly small, then place in the bowl of a food processor. microwave the cream and butter in a measuring cup on high until bubbling, about 1 1/2 minutes. add the cream and liqueur to the bowl of the food processor and process until thickened, about 3 minutes. transfer to a bowl.

[4] whip the ganache: place the bowl in a large bowl with ice water + ice cubes in it, and whisk the ganache until it loses its glossiness, ~3-5 minutes. beat on low to medium speed with an electric mixture until the ganache holds peaks, about 3-5 minutes. try not to overbeat, as the mixture will curdle.

[5] place the bottom cake layer on the cake plate or platter, and spread with either ganache (if using) or other filling. top with another layer, and spread a thin layer of ganache on it. arrange cherry compote evenly on top. spread a thin layer of ganache on the bottom side of the next layer, then place on top of cherry compote. top the layer with desired filling (ganache or other) and then top with final layer. ice the top and sides of cake.

note: cake can be refrigerated, then brought to room temp before serving. if you are making a different filling than the whipped ganache, keep in mind that you should not reheat the ganache, so it should be ready only when you want to ice the cake. for example, if you were making a mousse filling, you would want to allow time for the mousse to set on the cake layer, in the refrigerator, so you would not want to make the whipped ganache until later.

[serves 12-14]