Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Using butter, grease the bottom and sides of two 8 inch round cake pans or springform pans and line the bottoms with a round piece of parchment paper. To ensure even baking, place a bake even strip around the pan. You can make your own homemade bake even strip by cutting a towel or shirt to fit the size of your pan. Get the fabric really wet, then squeeze out the dripping water but do not squeeze it too dry. Secure the fabric around the pan with a safety pin.

In a small mixing bowl combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl combine the butter and sugar, beat with an electric mixer until fluffy, 2 minutes. Add in the melted chocolate and eggs, beat to combine.

Divide the batter evenly between both pans, with about 2 & 1/4 cups of batter in each pan. Bake for 30-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully remove the cake from the pan. If using a springform pan, remove the sides and bottom. Allow the cake to cool completely on a cooling rack. Once cool, remove the parchment paper round from the bottom of the cake. If you need to level the top of your cake, do so now using either a cake lever or knife.

Make sure the cake is completely cool before moving forward. If you’d like to make the cake several days in advance, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in the instant coffee granules that you dissolved in the milk. Add in additional instant coffee granules, about 1 tsp at a time until you get your desired coffee flavor.

Begin to add the powdered sugar, about 1-2 cups at a time, mixing by hand first, then with the electric mixer. Continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting tastes good to you and is well mixed.

Place chocolate chips in a medium heat-proof bowl.

In a small pot over low heat, heat the heavy cream until boiling.

Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate chips. Allow the mixture to stand for 1-2 minutes.

Use a spatula to stir the mixture until smooth.

Allow the ganache to come to room temperature before adding it to the cake.

Next, it’s time to do a crumb coat. The crumb coat will help seal the crumbs in. Using your offset spatula, spread a thin layer of buttercream around the sides and the top of the cake. It’s easiest to start off with more frosting on the cake and remove some as needed.

Place the entire cake in the freezer or fridge for 20 minutes to harden the crumb coat.

Begin to add the second layer of frosting. Spread an even layer of frosting on the top of the cake. Next either pipe on the frosting or spread on the frosting around the sides of the cake. Use a spatula or icing smoother to smooth out the frosting, scraping off excess as you go. Once the frosting is uniform around the cake, use the smooth side of Viva brand paper towels and a fondant smoother to smooth out any imperfections. Place the paper towel on the cake and gently rub the fondant smoother around. Repeat this process, moving the paper towel all around the cake.

Transfer the cake to your desired serving plate.

Once the ganache is room temperature, use a spoon or squeeze bottle to drizzle the ganache around the sides of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Fill in the middle of the cake with ganache and spread evenly with the back of the spoon. Allow the ganache to set for 10 minutes.

Top the cake with espresso buttercream swirls. To do this I used a piping bag fit with a Wilton 1M piping tip. Add chocolate covered coffee beans if desired.

Slice and serve!