Chocolate Ganache Cake

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole buttermilk
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup butter, softened (for buttercream)
• 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (for buttercream)
• ¾ cup heavy whipping cream (for ganache)
• 5 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff; set aside to fold in later.
3. 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.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, combine milk, buttermilk, cream and vanilla.
5. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined.
6. Fold egg whites into batter gently.
7. Spoon batter evenly into prepared pans and bake for 15-24 minutes or until just pulling away from the edges of the pan. Cool pans for 10 minutes then remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
8. Spread Vanilla Butter Cream in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Place cake in freezer for 30 minutes. Pour warm Chocolate Ganache over top of cake, letting it run down the sides.
9. For the Vanilla Butter Cream: beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla.
10. For Gabriel’s Chocolate Ganache: combine cream and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted and smooth (about 2 minutes total). Let cool for 10 minutes.