The best part- the cake

Part 2 of dad's bbq meal:  the cake.  For the last couple of years, I've been in charge of the cake.  I've always made a big "tada!" cake because there's a lot of people to feed and I like the challenge of making something extravagant.  Last year I made a tiered chocolate/raspberry cake with layers of homemade raspberry sauce and ganche in between each layer, topped with raspberry ganache.  This year, I made a cake that I've wanting to make for years.  I found the recipe from BonAppetit magazine in May 2009.  I've looked at it many times, read it over and over, and tried to find an occasion to make it.  I figured that dad's birthday was perfect since the cake is huge and it would challenge me. 

The cake is called "Mile High Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream" and the they're not lying.  It was a 6 layer cake, filled with vanilla buttercream in between each layer, and topped with ganache.  The cake is impressive looking because you see each layer- the ganache just drips down the sides of the cake- it doesn't cover it.  Here are the pics:

Even though the cake might look impressive, it really wasn't hard to make.  The cake was an incredibly moist and very chocolaty cake.  I made 3 8-inch layer cakes, cooled them, and cut them in half.  However, the buttercream was a little trickier, but not much.  I made a sugar syrup that I boiled to the soft ball stage, whipped egg whites, vanilla, and sugar, and very slowly poured the sugar syrup into the meringue.  After that cooled, I added softened butter one tablespoon at a time and whipped until smooth.  Then, I applied the buttercream to the layers of cake and stacked (no buttercream on the top though).  Finally, I poured ganache (a mix of milk and bittersweet chocolate and cream) over the top, and I ended up with a very tall and delicious cake. 

Is it embarrassing to admit that practically the whole cake was gone by the time we were done?? (there were 12 people!).  The only thing that made it better was my parent's homemade cherry crisp ice cream that complimented it very well (or vice versa). 

So, pressure is on- what cake do I make next year??? (Yes, I'm already thinking about it)