Chocolate Ganache Cake

Ingredients:

120g unsalted butter, chopped

220g (1 cup firmly packed) brown sugar

2 eggs

240g (1 cup) cream, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

225g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour

75g (3/4 cup) cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

Chocolate ganache:

200g dark chocolate (55% cocoa solids), finely chopped

300ml thickened cream

Directions:

To make ganache, place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Place cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Pour cream over chocolate and stir until melted and combined. Divide ganache between 2 bowls. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 bowl. Stand second bowl at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 160°C. To make cake, grease pans and line with baking paper. Place butter and sugar in a saucepan. Cook, stirring, over medium heat for 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves and butter is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Sift over flour with cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, then whisk until smooth. Divide batter between pans.

Bake, swapping pans halfway, for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centres comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Remove ganache from fridge, stir until smooth, then spread over top of 1 cake. Top with second cake, then gently press together. Pour over room temperature ganache to serve.