![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6E6C_qLzCCr0HNHoC1RueJdPBP-ub043hzcrQ_JJxlczwF1qPIrgluvcvEPzNX0a4ZNYw8qzu37GWCovlX8-Zw-tYiB0ntFTTvSOHuYjr-37vbiKgQiw3sff-SwzTky2ddXsU0sZM8hAF/s320/IMG_20190322_160837.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9Kb-9stOeLMy2coaiBJ0p-ooFGDbgq3GkUF8NmCFl6AuUr9-kBVtviUWKB029ccdMQzHw-0us0iHwFUjNSAmsDygiQ-kf2w-ZVN7-jJ2hrRB5wyAHrlO0fK47CppX665DyKNM1RWV9vl/s200/IMG_20190321_175254.jpg)
Since I wasn't sure how long they'd need to bake I checked on them frequently. Ultimately they baked for 35 minutes. After they cooled, I made ganache: 10 oz of cream, 10 oz of 60% chocolate (bittersweet), 2 T. butter.
Once everything was cooled and the ganache was the correct consistency, I assembled the cake. Since the layers were very rounded on the top I cut off the excess on one layer and that became the bottom. I used ganache and orange zest between the layers and then put the intact, rounded layer on the top. Then I poured the rest of the ganache and allowed it to enrobe the cake. I topped it with more orange zest and then some orange curls - I used a peeler to get strips of zest and curled them on a chopstick before placing them on top.
One thing I should not have done - refrigerate the cake. Unfortunately, the ganache cracked slightly. But not too bad.
This experiment was a success! After a birthday outing to an escape room, we had take-out Chinese dumplings and then, cake!