Smores Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake 2 cups cake flour 2 cups sugar 3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder (I am a firm believer in the Special Dark) 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 large eggs 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup vegetable oil 1 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 cup boiling water Dark Chocolate Ganache 8 oz dark chocolate chips (I used Hershey's special dark) 8 oz heavy cream

Marshmallow Buttercream 1 cup marshmallow fluff 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup shortening 1-3 tbsp water (you could also use milk) 2 cups powdered sugar Additional A bag of mini marshmallows for toasting

Chocolate Cake Preheat oven to 300 degrees 1. Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl and combine. 2. Add eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients. 3. Add vanilla to boiling water and add to mixture. 4. Mix at medium speed. 5. Pour into pans and bake 1 hour.

Dark Chocolate Ganache 1. Place dark chocolate chips in a bowl. 2. Microwave heavy cream until it simmers. 3. Pour heavy cream into bowl with chocolate. Immediately cover with saran wrap and allow to sit for about 7 minutes. 4. Whip until smooth. For a thick, spreadable ganache, refrigerate overnight. For this particular cake, I refrigerated for a couple hours, until thicker but still pourable.

Marshmallow Buttercream 1. Mix butter and shortening until smooth. 2. Add marshmallow fluff and mix until smooth. 3. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. 4. Add 1-3 tbsp water, depending on how think you want it. This icing has a texture similar to marshmallow fluff. I tell you this because it is a little hard to spread. Just FYI.

Toasted Marshmallows 1. Preheat oven on confection bake to 400 degrees. 2. Place a circle of marshmallows about 8 inches around on a baking sheet (use parchment paper underneath marshmallows to keep them from sticking). 3. Place marshmallows in oven for 3-5 minutes. Keep a close eye on them. You want them to just start to turn brown on top. 4. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To assemble the cake: 1. Put a thin layer of ganache on the bottom layer of the cake. 2. Add a layer of whole graham crackers. 3. Put another thin layer of ganache on the graham crackers. 4. Add a layer of marshmallow buttercream. 5. Top the buttercream with a layer of toasted marshmallows. 6. Cover the toasted marshmallows with a thin layer of ganache. 7. Add another layer of graham crackers. 8. Add ganache to the bottom of the top layer of the cake, then put the ganached side of the cake on top of the graham crackers.

9. Pour more ganache over the top of the cake and let it drizzle down the sides.