Non-birthday cake

I've been wanting to try to make this layered cake since I saw the recipe on laurainthekitchen.com, (not an advertisement) but this isn't the kind of thing I would make to have around the house. The way I see it, the more calories something has, the more people it's meant to be shared with; so I had to find a volunteer and an excuse to make it for them.

A friend had a birthday coming... And this was the perfect excuse, so I asked if I could bake her a birthday cake.

It was my first time to make a ganache...

And a cream cheese, peanut butter filling.

Like many layered-cake-learners, I had a problem with the top layer cracking...

So, I obviously still need practice. (My next victim/volunteer wants this for her birthday next January, so maybe I can figure out the cracking issue before then.)

The crazy part was, I misunderstood her birthday and it ended up being just an excuse to make it and be with friends after all. So there you go: Non-Birthday Cake.

Recipe here.