Triple Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut

You're about to be tempted, but please refrain from licking your computer screen.

I warned you.

You see that brown velvet pool of heaven?  That's Scharffen Berger Dark Chocolate Ganache.  Don't you just want to dive into that pool for a swim?


Now I want to lick my screen.

Mom needed a small cake to share with some of her girlfriends.  "We all like chocolate." was her response to my question of what flavor.  So to take a new spin on my favorite Chocolate cake recipe from the Confetti Cakes Cookbook, I substituted hazelnut extract for the suggested almond extract.    (which is NOT easy to find)  The hazelnut was not as strong as the original almond flavor in the cake, so I mixed a bit in with the chocolate buttercream frosting and to my surprise, I believe it brought out the coffee in the cake.  And then of course, the third and final chocolate layer is the drenching of dark chocolate ganache.

Ganache is genius.  What could possibly be better than chocolate, heavy cream and butter heated and mixed together.  Good Lord!  Ganache is prove that He loves us.

Bittersweet vine atop Bittersweet ganache.  Isn't that pretty?