The Cake of Dreams

  It was Paul's birthday this weekend, and when I asked him what cake he wanted, he said chocolate. But not just any chocolate cake. He doesn't like 'too-sweet' frosting, and didn't want my regular cream cheese frosting. So after many many questions, we narrowed it down to a layered cake with ganache, and chocolate curls on the outside. I've never made ganache before, but I have heard of it. A little searching on Pinterest, and I found a Martha Stewart cake recipe and a couple different ganache recipes. It's simply heavy cream and melted chocolate stirred together. Hmm, what's heavy cream over here? A little more internet searching and we figured we had something close and was advised to add a little melted butter. Nothing like guessing right? 
  The cake part turned out great, in three parts instead of two, but all the better for that. My first batch of ganache turned out well, but I didn't make quite enough, so I had to whip up some more. It was a slightly different shade than the first time, so I had to cover and blend a bit to even it out. Then while it was still soft, I sprinkled chocolate shavings from different chocolate bars all over. After setting in the fridge for a couple hours, it tasted AMAZING! One of my best cakes ever, I'm sure. 

  For Paul's presents, we got him a little remote controlled helicopter and a new cell phone. He also received a framed map of ancient Italy, leather gloves and a scarf, a pastor book, and a lego plane. Playing with his new gadgets all weekend has made the birthday boy happy. :)