Birthday Cake, step 2

I forgot to mention yesterday that imbibing is especially useful if you are making a dry-ish cake like a genoise.  I do it with most cakes even if they are already moist, I just use a lot less liquid so that the cake doesn't become damp.  Personally, I tend to use Frangelico or Chambord but I'm sure other liquors would work well too, just try using what you like.  If you don't want to use liquor you can use simple syrup instead.  I've never tried that, but I'm sure it works because all my cookbooks that discuss imbibing cakes say it does.

Anyway, on to the next step.  I made a batch of buttercream.  I don't do traditional buttercream with eggs, by the way.  I literally cream butter, add lots of powdered sugar, a bit of milk, some flavoring (in this case I used vanilla extract and Frangelico), and usually more powdered sugar.  I wanted it white, but if I don't I add food coloring when I add the flavoring (and more at the very end if I need).  I really don't measure any more, I know what it should look, taste and feel like.  If you want a recipe, check it out here.

I also made a large batch of chocolate ganache (oops, I had far too much left over, but I used it on the spare cake...to be posted later).  I let it cool a bit and then whipped it.  I didn't whip it too much--certainly not enough to get it light and airy--just enough to give it some body.

I piped a thick ring of buttercream around the edge of the cake layers that would be filled with ganache (the bottom and middle layers, not the top layer).  This is a useful step if you are using a filling that is not buttercream because it keeps the filling from oozing out when you put the next layer of cake on top of it.

Then I filled inside the ring of butter cream with a generous layer of ganache.

FYI: The ring probably should have been closer to the edge of the cake, but I've never done this before so I was a little nervous about it oozing out.  In the end I had to pipe more buttercream in to fill the gaps that were left because I made the ring too far in.  

I had plenty of buttercream left over which I used for the crumb coat. To be continued...