Chocolate Ombre cake for my birthday

This is the cake I made for my birthday:
The first cake is mine - the second pic is from Zoey's bakehouse where it was inspired from.
Waiting for the day when i finally match up to my inspirations ;-(

Cake from Dishes From My Kitchen blog:

This is for one 8 " Inch cake pan. 

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour - 1 cup 
Corn flour - 1 1/4 tbsp

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Unsweetened cocoa powder - 2 1/2 tbsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Water - 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp

Oil - 4 tbsp

Apple Cider or any vinegar - 1 tbsp

Vanilla extract - 1 1/2 tsp

Instant Coffee - 1/4 tsp


Method :

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line 8"inch tin with the parchment.

2.  In a large bowl whisk all the dry ingredients.

3.  In a small bowl, whisk all the liquid ingredients with the coffee granules.

4.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Whisk until everything is well mixed. Do not over mix.

5. Pour the batter in the prepared tin.

6. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake center comes out clean. (Few crumbs clinging is absolutely fine... as it will be moist)

My review is that the cake turned out a little dry.  I prefer the Barbara bakes chocolate cake recipe.

The cake was filled with chocolate mousse made using 1 cup of chocolate ganache and 2 cups of whipped cream (Rich's premium whipping cream).  The whipping cream was fabulous and doubled upto like thrice it's volume.  I was able to use only one 3rd of the mousse i made and distributed the rest in small cuppies at work.

Chocolate mousse from Kitchen kemistry as always 

I made 2 cups of chocolate ganache and used that to make 2 cups of the mousse

I also made 1 cup of chocolate whipping cream using the joy of baking whipping cream recipe

Also used the remaining one cup of chocolate ganache 

Makes 1 cup

4 oz  Baking chocolate *I used Godiva bittersweet baking chocolate. You can also use semi sweet, dark or milk chocolate.

1/2 cup Heavy whipping cream *For vegan version, use coconut cream concentrate

1/2  tablespoon Unsalted butter *For vegan version use a neutral tasting oil

1/2  tablespoon Liqueur or 1/4  teaspoon of flavoring like vanilla  or 1 tablespoon of espresso *This is optional. For a child friendly version, do not use liqueur

Method

Chop the chocolate bar into small pieces. Small pieces melt better than large ones. I chopped the chocolate bar roughly. Grated chocolate is recommended. To save time, you may also use chocolate morsels or callets instead of a bar.

This step is optional. Set aside the butter. I use sweet cream unsalted butter. Softening the butter is not required. You can also use a neutral tasting oil like grapeseed oil or vegetable oil. Adding extra fat gives a shiny texture when poured on a cake or as a fruit dip. If you’re making a ganache for other baking purpose, you can skip the butter or oil. Less fat, less calories!

Measure the heavy cream in a cup. If you use a good quality chocolate and it taste good by itself, you can use light cream, half and half or fresh milk for a reduced fat and thinner ganache. Avoid using bland or stale chocolate that tastes like mud.  No matter what, It sure spoils the final outcome.