Best Fudge Cake

sadly, this is the best photo I got...

Denise calls this the Giant Ding Dong cake, much to Grandma's chagrin.
It's pretty much a showstopper.

3 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2  cup soft butter or margarine
2 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 cup sour cream
1 cup boiling water

1. Melt chocolate in small saucepan over very low heat

2. grease well and flour three 9X 1 1/2"  pans (I spray with
Pam, set a circle of waxed paper in the pan, and spray again with Pam)

3. Beat butter until smooth in large bowl with electric mixer.
   Add sugar and eggs; beat on high speed until light and fluffy,
   about 5 minutes.

4.  Beat in vanilla and chocolate with mixer on low speed, then add
baking soda and salt.   Add flour alternately with sour cream,
    beating in low speed until smooth.  Pour in boiling water;
stir with a spoon until well blended.  Pour into prepared pans.

5.  Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) for 30 - 35 minutes or
until center springs back when touched lightly with fingertip.
    Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.  Remove from pans;
cool completely.

6.  Split each layer with long serrated knife into 2 layers;
fill with sweetened whipped cream.  Frost with ganache.
      
Note:   Batter will be thin and makes thick layers.

** Quite often, I don't bother to sift the flour. This time I measured
the cake flour, sifted it, then measured again. There was almost
1/2 c. left over. The cake was wonderfully moist. I guess I'll
be sifting from now on.


Filling:

6-8 oz. softened cream cheese
2 c. whipping cream
sugar
vanilla

Whip cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add whipping cream
and continue beating until desired stiffness. Add vanilla and
sweeten to taste.  (I used 6 oz. cream cheese because I wanted it to
taste more whipped cream-y and less cheesecake-y.)


Ganache:

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. whipping cream
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 bar German sweet chocolate
a few grains of salt

(I used a 4 oz. bar of bittersweet Ghirardelli chocolate.
Use what you like, for a total of 4 oz.)

Stir together sugar, salt and 1/4 c. cream in a small saucepan.
Cook over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Add chocolate
and stir constantly until dissolved. Add remaining cream. 

Ganache will be quite thin, and will thicken as it cools.
When completely cool, pour over the cake and smooth on the sides.
Refrigerate cake until serving.