SoNo Chocolate Ganache Cake - awesome!

I made this cake yesterday for our Mother's Day celebration.  It was extremely well-received.  the only problem was it was too rich.  Supposedly, this serves twelve.  From what I saw yesterday, this could serve about 24.  7 of us managed to only put away 1/4 of the cake.

Courtesy The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook by John Barricelli

GANACHE

1 pound semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped

1 pound bittersweet chocolate, very finely chopped

4 cups heavy cream

¼ cup good-quality honey

½ teaspoon coarse salt

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise, or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

CAKE

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting

2 2/3 cups granulated sugar

1½ teaspoons baking powder

2½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon coarse salt

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1 1/3 cups brewed American coffee

GANACHE

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl; set aside. [I melted the chocolate in a double-boiler as I was too  lazy to finely chop up 32 squares of chocolate]  In a medium saucepan, combine cream, honey and salt. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean pod, if using, into cream, and add the pod. Bring cream to a boil, pour over chocolate, and let stand 5 minutes to melt the chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Strain through a fine strainer into a bowl. Discard vanilla bean. (Or stir in vanilla extract, if using.) Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until ganache stiffens, at least 6 hours or overnight.   [I let the ganache stand at room temp for 5 hours and it was still far too runny.  I chilled it for about 1 1/2 hours and it was just right.]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with a round of parchment paper and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess.

CAKE

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add eggs, vanilla, melted butter, buttermilk and coffee, and mix with electric mixer on low speed until fully combined. [I mixed the dry ingredients together, mixed the wet ingredients together and then slowly added the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients]  Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Bake on a baking sheet until a cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Unmold cakes onto rack and let cool completely.

Using a serrated knife, slice the top 1⁄8to 1/4 inch off each cake to level it, if necessary. Discard the top pieces. Slice each cake horizontally into two layers for a total of four layers. Place bottom layer on a 9-inch cake round, a turntable, or a platter, and using an offset spatula, spread thickly with about 1½ cups of the ganache. Repeat with the second and third layers, spreading another 1½ cups ganache over each layer. Add the final cake layer and spread it with a very thin layer of ganache . Place the cake in the refrigerator until set, about 30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator and place it on a wire rack set over a sheet pan. [Oops.  I didn't see the remaining steps in the recipe.  Presentation was pretty nice, even without them]  In the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, heat the reserved ganache just until liquid. Pour the ganache over the top of the cake, allowing it to run down the sides. Using a large offset spatula, help spread the ganache from the center to the edges so the cake is completely covered. Refrigerate to set, about 30 minutes. Serve at room temperature.