Martha Stewart One Bowl Chocolate Cake with Simple Chocolate Ganache

I am finally done with mid terms last week and finally, here comes two and a half weeks of holiday. I will say that in the past week, I was overwhelmed with much emotion. Never ever in my life I have done so badly in exam, and I knew it was not the best that I could have done Furthermore, the results were not up to my expectation. It is undoubtedly true that every single one of us is struggling with time to prepare ourselves for mid terms while most teachers felt the pressure too to finish the syllabus with us. And there's this saying among teachers and students that most of us will do badly for mid terms. As for me, I feel that there isn't any excuse for me to not do well in any exams. I have tried my best but I knew I could have done better :( I regretted for not putting my best foot forward. My heart wrenched at the moment I got back my papers. Knowing that I have scored so much lower in most of the papers was really hard for me to accept.

I decided to bake an easy-peasy one bowl chocolate cake with chocolate ganache to share my love and passion to my bunch of mates. I am blessed to have met such amazing classmates. I appreciate all the helping hands from every single one of you. From the starting of our relationship till now, the ups and downs. you guys have never left me to face the problems alone. In fact, all of you stood by my side, helping me to seek for the best solutions to the problems, giving me the best piece of advice and forgiving me for the mistakes I have done or when I unintentionally neglected our friendship. I really hope that I will be forgiven.

Martha Stewart One Bowl Chocolate Cake
(http://www.marthastewart.com/340315/one-bowl-chocolate-cake)
Unsalted butter, softened, for pans

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder, plus more for pans

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

3/4 cup warm water

3 tablespoons safflower oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans (2 inches deep); dust with cocoa. Sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a mixer. Beat on low speed until just combined. Raise speed to medium, and add eggs, buttermilk, water, oil, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, about 3 minutes.
                                                                                             
2. Divide batter between pans. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Turn out from pans. Transfer, faceup, to wire racks. Let cool completely.
                                             

p/s: I tried making my own buttermilk by mixing one cup of milk with two tbsp of lemon juice but I have found that mine does not curdle much. The milk didn't thicken much and my batter went wrong. I had to add more flour into the batter, resulting in a chewy texture in the cupcakes. I twisted the recipe to make cupcakes! Cupcakes look much more adorable with all the pretty linings :)

Simple Chocolate Ganache

Melt chocolate in the whipping cream using over low heat. Add sugar for desired sweetness.