Yellow cake with butterscotch and chocolate ganache

We had a pal over for dinner last night, and Chuck mentioned that he's been wanting to try a recipe for homemade butterscotch from one of his favorite books - Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking.  I suggested we also make some chocolate sauce, so he thumbed through the book and found a recipe of chocolate ganache that can be used as a sauce when warm.  We picked up some vanilla ice cream, and were set.

Delicious!  But we barely made a dent in the nearly 4 cups worth of dessert sauce.  So then came the question...what on earth are we going to do with all this sauce?  Naturally, I immediately thought of how I could incorporate them into a cake.  And here's what I came up with - yellow cake topped with butterscotch and ganache.

Butterscotch slowly soaking in

Covered with ganache - I like to leave half without nuts for those who hate them :)

The butterscotch soaked in perfectly

I couldn't wait for the ganache to set - I dug right in. A lovely, rich cake.

Lessons learned and recipe thoughts:

1. Ganache sounds fancy, but it is one of the easiest things I've ever made.  I'm pretty sad that it took me this long to discover it was so simple.  I might have to come up with an excuse to make it weekly.
2. Store-bought butterscotch and homemade butterscotch are two entirely different beasts.  Good lord - the flavor was just amazing.  Another simple recipe that I will definitely be making again.
3. It is a really good idea to make either of the above.  It's probably not a good idea to make them together.  Unless, of course, you have an office full of people to feed them to.

Here's how I pulled this cake together: I baked a yellow cake and let it cool for 10 minutes.  Then I poked holes all over the cake with a fork.  I spooned the butterscotch over the cake and let it soak in.  Once the cake cooled, I microwaved the ganache to soften it a bit, then poured it over the cake.  Simple!

Basic Ganache:

8 oz cream
8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Bring the cream just to a simmer, pour it over the chocolate, wait 5 minutes for the chocolate to soften, then whisk the cream and chocolate until they're completely combined.  Serve immediately or chill until you're ready to serve. [Can be used as an ice cream sauce, chilled and rolled into truffles dusted with cocoa powder, or as a fudgelike icing on cake or brownies.]

Old-Fashioned Butterscotch Sauce

4 oz unsalted butter (1 stick)
8 oz dark brown sugar
8 oz cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan or an enameled cast-iron pot, combine the butter and sugar over medium heat and cook until the sugar has melted completely and the mixture has taken on a thick and frothy lava-like appearance, 5-10 minutes.  Turn off the heat.  Whisk in the cream until it's thoroughly incorporated.  Let it cool for 10 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.