Chocolate Chip Grand Marnier Cake with Goat Cheese Buttercream

 This is one of those cakes you should bring to a party and casually place in front of everyone and say something like "Oh, it was easy, I do this stuff all the time *hair flip*."  I would go into grand detail about why this cake made me so happy, but I think the title kind of sums it up.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Grand Marnier, its the fancy orange liqueur that gets put into your top shelf margarita when you have the extra cash to spend on getting drunk in style.  It goes shockingly well with the goat cheese buttercream, which may or may not be the real star of this cake.   

I covered this whole damn cake in chocolate ganache because I can't help but to do everything in excess, and also because chocolate ganache makes me happy.  Does chocolate ganache make you happy? Cool.

                                                                      What:

Cake

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 2 T cocoa powder
• 1/2 t salt
• Zest of 1 orange
• 4 eggs
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar + 1/4 cup for glaze
• 1 T vanilla
• 10 oz bittersweet chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup Grand Marnier + 1/3 cup for glaze
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup water

Goat Cheese Buttercream

• 4 oz soft goat cheese
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2 T milk or heavy cream

Chocolate Ganache

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 6 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 1 T cold unsalted butter

How:

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat eggs, vanilla and 1.5 cups sugar until nice and fluffy (about 2 minutes)
3. Add 1/2 cup Grand Marnier and butter and combine
4. Mix in both flours, baking powder and salt 
5. Fold in orange zest and chocolate chips
6. Pour into prepared pans (I used three 6" pans, but two 9" pans will work)
7. Bake for about 35 minutes or until crumb free when poked with a toothpick and golden brown on top
8. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup grand marnier and 1/4 cup water and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.  Bring to a light boil and remove from the heat 
9. Once the cakes have cooled, poke holes in them with a fork or skewer and pour the glaze over them while its still slightly warm

Buttercream

1. The butter and cheese have to be soft for this to work, so make sure that's a thing
2. Using the whisk attachment on a stand or hand held mixer, beat the cheese and butter on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes
3. Sift in the confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup at a time and beat until well combined, scraping the bowl as necessary
4. Once all sugar has been added, adjust the consistency with the heavy cream if necessary

Ganache

1. Place the chocolate in a medium - sized bowl and set aside
2. Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate
4. Add the butter and mix gently until all of the chocolate has dissolved

I cut my cakes into multiple layers, but that's totally not necessary.  Cut and frost your cakes the way you'd like and pour the ganache on top once it's cooled completely.  I topped this little buddy with candied orange peels.  

Yum