Dark Chocolate Heart Cake!!!

Ingredients

1 cup sifted flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 TB vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips,

specifically, Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet

For Chocolate Ganache:

1 cup semisweet

chocolate

2 tablespoons light cream

¼ cup milk

Preparation

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9-inch diameter cake pan.

Line bottom with parchment paper.

Butter and cocoa parchment and pan.

Whisk first 5 ingredients.

Beat butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

Gradually beat in sugars, then vanilla.

Add in eggs, one at a time,

beating well after each addition.

Beat in dry ingredients alternatively

with buttermilk in 2 additions each.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour batter in prepared pan

and bake 45-50 minutes,

or until a tester comes out clean.

For the process:

When I'm baking a chocolate cake, instead of buttering and flouring the pans,

I butter and cocoa my pans. Mix the sifted flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Softened butter into the mixer. Beat butter until light and fluffy, then gradually add in sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and eggs.

Alternatively, add in dry ingredients and buttermilk, in two additions each beating well after each addition. Fold in dark chocolate chips. Pour into buttered and cocoa'd pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes. Let cool. Invert on rack and peel off parchment.

Let cool completely before slicing horizontally in half and spreading on the dark chocolate filling.

For Chocolate Ganache:

In a double boiler, melt chocolate with cream and milk until thick smooth. Drizzle over cake and let cool.