Vanilla Buttercream Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Watch out. This is cake #2 in one week.

And it's a doozie. Quite good!

There's a good reason why I've been so busy baking! I've been asked to donate a cake for a local alzheimer's association fund raising event this Saturday. Apparently, they sell slices of cake for $8, so it has to be great! I wanted to try two new recipes and see which was best. I cut a slice of each cake for us and took the rest to work, where they were both promptly devoured and voted on!

Vanilla Buttercream Cake with Chocolate Ganache

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Ingredients:

cake-

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 vegetable shortening

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, separated

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup whole milk

1/3 cup, plus 1 Tbsp whole buttermilk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

vanilla buttercream-

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 cup vegetable shortening

8 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

chocolate ganache-

3/4 heavy whipping cream

5 (1 oz) squares semisweet chocolate

-Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 3 9-inch cake pans (or use Pam for baking)

-In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

-In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

-In a small bowl, combine milk, buttermilk, cream and vanilla.

-Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternatively with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined.

-In a medium bowl, beat egg whites at medium speed with an electric mixer until stiff. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

-Spoon batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

-Vanilla Buttercream: In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Spread in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Place cake in freezer for 30 minutes.

-Chocolate Ganache: Heat whipping cream over low heat until warm, but not boiling. Remove from heat and add chocolate squares. Allow to melt, stir together and let it sit for a while to thicken. You want it to drop from your spoon instead of being runny. Pour over top of cake and push to edges to let it run over. Garnish with fruit. Store in refrigerator.

It was a very, very good cake, and really beautiful, too. The recipe came from a Paula Deen magazine, so it is obviously decadent and best reserved for special occasions! Yum yum.

PS - the votes were split between the two cakes :)