Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat your oven to 350 F/ 175 C. Line and grease three, eight-inch cake pans, or four, seven-inch pans.
- Combine flour, sugar, black cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together until combined.
- In a separate, large bowl, add warm water, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix by hand until fully incorporated. The batter will be thin.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake for 24-27 minutes. Use a kitchen scale to weigh the pans for even layers.
- Remove cake layers from the oven and let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with an offset spatula and flip onto wire racks to finish cooling.
- Once cooled, level the top of each cake layer with a serrated knife. Wrap and freeze layers if making in advance.
- Beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds until smooth.
- Add sifted black cocoa, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix on low until fully incorporated.
- Slowly mix in powdered sugar and heavy cream on low speed until combined.
- Mix in cooled, melted semi-sweet chocolate on low speed until the desired consistency is reached.
- Add black gel food coloring if a deeper black is desired. Cover frosting flush with plastic wrap to prevent crusting.
- Place semi-sweet chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.
- Heat heavy cream in a heatproof bowl in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute until steaming. Alternatively, heat on the stove until simmering.
- Pour hot cream over the chocolate chips. Let sit for 1-2 minutes.
- Add black gel food coloring, then stir slowly until smooth.
- Set aside and cool for about 10 minutes, until slightly warm to the touch.
- Stack and frost the cake layers on a cake board, using a dab of frosting to secure the first layer.
- Add an even layer of buttercream between each cake layer with a large offset spatula.
- Spread a thin coat of frosting around the cake, covering all layers. Smooth with a bench scraper.
- Chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes or freezer for 10 minutes until the frosting is firm.
- Add a second, thicker layer of frosting and smooth with a bench scraper.
- Chill the cake again for 20 minutes in the fridge or 10 minutes in the freezer until firm.
- Test the ganache consistency; heat briefly in the microwave if needed.
- Add drips to the chilled cake using a squirt bottle or spoon.
- Decorate as desired. Pipe swirls on top with an open star tip, and add edible gold paint or a luster dust mixture.
Notes
For a deeper black color, add more black gel food coloring to the buttercream and drip. You can also use edible gold paint or luster dust for decoration. Ensure your ganache is the right consistency for clean drips; it should be slightly warm and pourable but not too thin.