A few weeks ago I thought - hmmm I need to make the 1-2-3-4 cake again (the one that i didn't realize was to make 3 layers until too late...) and go ahead and make the 3 layers. Hmmm, what to fill it with... so mulled over that now and again, hadn't come up with anything... Untiiilll dinner at Buddakhan for my anniversary...in...July... yeah this post was a long time coming, lol. One of their desserts has "ginger cream cheese". Eureka! Ginger. I typically make cream cheese frosting so there ya go. So was birthed the notion of making a cake that involved ginger. What follows is the story of that notion come reality...
I decided that because I was (uh am) still obsessed w/ chocolate ganache, I'd make a ginger infused choc ganache for the filling. For this I wanted fresh ginger. I aimed for a root that was lengthy because I got it in my head that lengthy strips of ginger might be cool.
I peeled and julienned some ginger. Oh about...that much. I didn't measure it. I'm bad that way... I should probably work on that... I can tell you that it was a cup of heavy cream tho (but only b/c that's what the ganache recipe I used said). I also need to work on my julienning skills. They could have been thinner I think. I didn't want a dice or shred b/c I just wanted to flavor the ganache. I didn't actually want to have pieces of ginger in the filling.
I put some of the ginger in the cream. Looked at it. Thought about it for a minute and then added some more. And let it heat up.
I didn't think it was quite gingery enough by the time it was ready to add the chocolate so I opted to leave it in there once I added the chocolate. Whisk...whisk...whisk... ymmm yumm yumm...
Eventually, it tasted gingery enough and given that I didn't want chunks of ginger in the filling, I now had to take all that ginger out. I had the bright idea that perhaps I could use it as a garnish on the cake, so I actually painstakingly took out each piece and laid it on a piece of parchment, uh I mean wax paper (the amateur foodie's parchment). Hadn't seemed like THAT much ginger when I was dumping it in by the handful... But there it is. Chocolate Covered Ginger. Sounds delish doesn't it? It did to me, so I had a taste. the first few bites were great...then it hit me that really I hadn't heated it for but so long and even tho there was a decent bit of it's flavor still in the pan this was still all but raw ginger. WHEW! Tasty? Yes. Strong? DEFinitely. At which point it was determined that this would not go all over the top of the cake. If I were to do it again, I think I'd have to make more of an effort to kill more of the gingeryness to make it more palatable to the average palate.
We now interrupt the more interesting sections of this entry to say that in spite of my willingness to go 3 layers, I just put the cake batter into 2 cake pans...whiiich we'll see later, may have been my uh... well not a good idea... Meanwhile back at the ranch...
Icing time. We start with a basic (I guess) cream cheese frosting recipe (I'd love to put a link but I can't remember where it was, I think I find a new one every time. It involved cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla if that helps...) I added 1 tbsp of minced ginger to start. Tasted it and then added another. What? She measured something!?!? She did. You can see the jar, I needed to get it out w/ something, a measuring spoon was the best fit. 
And now to assemble this madness! Aww don't the cakes look purdy?? And high, right? Right. Since my cakes almost always have that lovely bump on top, I already had a plan for that. (I guess the lesson in that 'always' is - don't put so much darn batter in the pan, lady! ok ok, next time...) So, I go to turn cake number 1 out of the pan and... and... it doesn't move. This has NEVER EVER happened to me before. EVER. I greased & floured like you're sposta and everytying. Ok took a butter knife around the edge... Still no motion.. WAH!!!!!
Ok ok, just get the darn thing out of the pan... and so I did. It ain't pretty but it's out. Got it out however it would come, then got the rest out... so sad my cake. But OH SO YUMMY!!! 
Ok, recall me saying I'd had a contingency plan for the bump on the cakes? I was already planning to use what I sliced off the top to level it in some sort of crumb 'topping' for the sides of the cake. Soooo... I still ended up with cake to crumble, just via a different method. I shall spare you the ugly details of the second layer, but suffice it to say - more of the same. *hangs head* I'm so ashamed. But anyway... onward.
Add the ganache to layer 1. So mad that I forgot to take a picture. And topped it with the second layer. Yes it looks like the lower layer is smaller. We'll just pretend I was intentionally making a topsy turvy cake... Ok not really, just still part of the former removal from pan debacle. But again the cake is DARN TASTY! 
Ok, so while the icing is still setting up some in the fridge, I start working on the crumb stuff that's supposed to go around sides of the cake. Mind you at this point I really just know that that's where I want it. I considered how I was going to get it on there but figured I wouldn't stress about it until the time actually came... To the food processor! We have cake crumbs, of course, and then... more ginger - this time ground. (You know better than to ask how much right? Good. *grin*) Even tho there's sugar in the cake, I felt that I needed to add some sugar to the mixture. I considered powdered at first, but then opted for granulated for some texture and crunch. I remembered that I had a few squares of baking chocolate in the fridge, and thought hmmm, so far, there's only chocolate in the filling, I should bring that back in for the outside. Pulsed it up some... Then spotted the few oz of semi-sweet chips I hadn't used in the ganache and figured, why not? I tossed that in there as well. 
Time to finish up this project. Out comes the icing and I ice away. Then it's time to add the lovely mixture in the processor. Hmmm... It's kinda warm in the kitchen...icing's kinda soft... uhhh how bout I just put it on the TOP of the cake. Great idea. But once I did that it looked a li'l odd especially since some of it sorta ending up on the sides was unavoidable. 
I added more but aimed more for the side from above...kinda? I don't know but I ended up getting a nice li'l some on the sides and then around the bottom edge. (and all over the table... but that was just bonus.)
Time to dig in. If I had been thinking, I would NOT have taken a picture that would remind us of the imperfections in the cake itself...but imperfections...something something about character? Yeah, let's go with that... And you'll see that I did end up throwing in some of the choc covered ginger (which incidentally had been put in the refrigerator to cool and harden). Some might say I need to work on presentation/plating... And so I shall. 
And here we can see just how much of the bottom layer uh ended up in the topping... (or in our bellies, cuz trust there was a LOT of snacking on the cake 'scraps') during this process.
And there ends the story of the very yummy Ginger 3 Ways (working title) cake. Not sure I like it as a name but it'll work for now. It was tres yummerlicious - If I do say so myself. The rest of the household enjoyed it so that's gonna count for something.
But wait... there's more...
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