I need a good chocolate cake groom's cake recipe that will hold up for layers but taste chocolatey... not dark chocolate.

I also need an icing that is a dark, shiny chocolate but will hold up for piping scallops and details. I would like something that looks like ganache but pipes like buttercream.. buttercream is probably too light colored and not chocolatey enough.....

Any recipes you can refer me to? This is my first "real" groom's cake!

Thank you!

Also... this will be a basketball (round sports pan) cake on top of two springform pan layers... should I use dowels or a plate between the ball and two layers??

Okay, here is the chocolate cake recipe that I always use. I have used it for wedding, grooms cakes, birthday cakes, etc. It's a recipe that my Mom always made and I never have any problems with this cake. It's nice and moist, but holds up well for stacking and stays good for several days. It does have a small amount of black coffee in the batter, I just make a cup of instant coffee because I'm not a coffee drinker. Don't worry, you can't taste the coffee in the cake!

Black Midnight Cake

2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. cocoa
1 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. black coffee

Stir dry ingredients together in mixer bowl. Add other ingredients in order listed. Beat on medium until well incorporated. Batter is very thin.

For 2 8" rounds, bake 35 minutes at 350.


And, I use the Chocolate Ganache 1 recipe from the recipe section. If you cool it in the refrigerator for at least an hour, it pipes beautifully and has a nice dark glossy look.