Chocolate Spider Web Cake

It’s easy to create the web on this dark chocolate delight covered in rich ganache.

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups granulated sugar
• 1⅔ cup all-purpose flour
• ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1½ tsp. baking soda
• ¾ tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• ⅔ cup oil
• ⅔ cup hot brewed liquid coffee
• ⅔ cup + 4 tsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3½ cups semisweet chocolate chips. from 24-oz. pkg.
• 1¾ cups heavy cream
• 8” cardboard circle
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line bottoms of 2 (8”) round cake pans with parchment paper; coat with cooking spray. In large bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, oil, coffee, ⅔ cup milk and vanilla; on medium, beat until blended and smooth, 2 min. Divide between pans. Bake until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, 25-30 min. Cool 30 min. Transfer from pans to rack; cool.
2. Place chocolate chips in large heat-proof bowl. In pot, bring cream to boil over medium heat. Pour over chocolate; stir until smooth. Transfer 2 cups to separate microwave-safe bowl. Cover; chill, stirring occasionally, until thickened to consistency of frosting, about 45 min. Cover remaining mixture; reserve at room temp. Place 1 cake layer on cardboard circle. Spread top with half of chilled chocolate mixture; top with remaining cake layer. Spread top and side of cake with remaining chilled mixture. Chill cake until filling is just set, 15 min.
3. Place rack on rimmed baking sheet. Mix confectioners’ sugar and 3 tsp. milk until smooth, adding remaining milk, ½ tsp. at a time, if too thick to pipe. Transfer to pastry bag with ¼” opening in tip; reserve. Microwave reserved chocolate mixture in microwave-safe bowl in 15-sec. intervals until pourable. Place cake on rack. Pour chocolate mixture over top cake, spreading evenly over top and side to cover completely.
4. To create spider web, begin by piping a line of white icing around the cake top. Starting from center of cake, pipe icing in one continuous spiral, ½”-¾” apart, around cake top. Then starting in center of cake, pull the dull side of a small knife through the icing to edge of cake. Let the cake stand until the icing is set, 20 min.