Spiced Chocolate Torte Wrapped in Chocolate Ribbons

My sister Steph is a character.  She's a dreamer, a planner, a doer and the most adventurous free spirit I'm lucky enough to know.  She's one of those stubborn, loyal, gregarious sisters you are glad to have.  Steph definitely knows what she wants, and she demands grand cakes.  Last year I made her this chocolate cake, but this year I needed to up the anti.  I tried to roll in her twentieth birthday in style, with this over the top chocolate monstrosity.  It's a cake wrapped with a bow, could you make a better birthday gift?  Steph, I can report, loved the cake!  I received multiple pictures over the next few days of what meal the leftover cake was substituting for.  It's a show stopper for sure.

The cake was overwhelming, both in it's making and consuming.  I find with huge decadent cakes their denseness and sweetness always overdo it on my poor stomach, which makes them a better idea than reality.  I had a great time spending a day making this cake, each step was a project in it's own right. Although it's not perfect I'm very pleased with the results.

Baking notes:
-I had only two of the same size cake pans, so I weighed out the batter and evenly divided it by three.  After cooling and removing the cake from it's pan I baked the last cake.
-Since it's the middle of summer I halved the amount of spice in the cake, it was a smart move.
-Next time I would leave the rum out of the buttercream.  I found that I really didn't like or appreciate it's inclusion (and I'd much rather drink it!)
-My white chocolate dough was a bit to soft.  I even weighed the white chocolate, but it came out too sticky.  I'd add about a half ounce more white chocolate next time, and hope that is enough (but not too much).
-If I could have found my cake plate, I would have used it.  The cake is very heavy and difficult to transfer after you add the decorations, but I still suggest something nicer than a tray.

The recipe for Spiced Chocolate Torte Wrapped in Chocolate Ribbons can be found on the Bon Appetit website.

87/569

Sorry this one is blurry!