- Servings: 12
Ingredients:
| Cake Layers: | |
| 3 cups | Sugar |
| 3½ cups | All Purpose Flour |
| 1½ cups | Dutch Process Cocoa |
| 4 tsp | Baking Soda |
| 2 tsp | Baking Powder |
| 2 tsp | Salt |
| 1 cup | Honey |
| 4 | Large Eggs |
| 2 cups | Buttermilk |
| 2 cups | Strong Brewed Coffee, cooled |
| 1 cup | Vegetable Oil |
| 2 tsp | Vanilla |
| Chocolate Ganache Filling: | |
| 1 cup | Heavy Cream |
| 8 oz | Semisweet Chocolate |
| 1 tsp | Instant Coffee Granules |
| Chocolate Buttercream Icing: | |
| 1 cup | Butter |
| 8 Tbsp | Half & Half |
| 2 tsp | Vanilla |
| 1½ cups | Dutch Process Cocoa |
| 2 lbs | Confectioners Sugar |
| Garnish: | |
| 1½ lb | Fresh Strawberries, divided |
| 1 cup | Semisweet Chocolate Morsels |
| Chocolate Buttercream Icing | |
| 30 | Chocolate Wafer Cookies, finely crushed |
| 2 oz | Milk Chocolate, for shavings and curls |
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour four 9 inch round baking pans. Line with parchment and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Pour half of batter into another bowl and divide remaining batter evenly into four prepared pans. Bake 18-22 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, then turn out onto racks, removing parchment. Wash and dry pans and repeat process with remaining batter. When finished, you will have eight thin layers. Meanwhile prepare ganache. In a saucepan over medium heat. Warm heavy cream until just boiling. Place semi-sweet chocolate in a large bowl, add instant coffee and pour boiling cream over top. Let sit for 1 minute, then whisk until melted, smooth and silky. Refrigerate 1 hour or until thickened, stirring every 15 minutes. Wash and dry strawberries thoroughly. Set aside 12 whole berries. Remove tops from remaining berries, slice thinly, and set aside. Melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate in microwave, then dip whole strawberries 3/4 way into melted chocolate. Let cool on waxed paper in refrigerator. Icing:
Mix butter, half and half and vanilla well in a large bowl, then gradually add cocoa and confectioners sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy.
Assemble:
Place one cake layer on a platter. Spread with about 1/4 cup ganache and top with next layer. Continue alternating ganache and cake layers, pressing a thin layer of sliced strawberries between every other layer. End with a layer of cake on top. Frost cake, reserving some for decoration. Press crushed chocolate wafers onto sides of cake. Pipe 12 rosettes on top edge of cake, then place chocolate covered strawberries in between. Sprinkle center with chocolate shavings and curls. Decorate bottom edge with remaining icing.
Helpful Tips:
Baking the layers individually eliminates the difficult and tricky process of dividing the layers horizontally with a knife. This process ensures they are an even thickness so there is less of a chance of the cake leaning to one side.

