Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (Do not bake in a convection oven.)

• Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar until they are well-blended.

• Dissolve the instant espresso in the water.

• Gently beat the eggs and mix in the milk, oil, extracts and espresso.

• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the liquid mixture and gently stir with a flat wire whisk until incorporated. Let the batter rest for 1 minute, then scrape the bowl and gently stir again so there are no dry pockets.

• Evenly divide the batter between 2 9-inch cake pans that have been buttered and floured.

• Bake for about 18 minutes. Rotate the pans and test the center by gently pressing to see if it springs back. If it doesn’t spring back, you will need to bake it longer, up to about 25 minutes.

• Remove the cakes from oven, let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert and turn them upright to cool completely. (You may quicken this process by placing the layers in your freezer for about 30 minutes.)

• Make the orange-honey whipped cream by whipping the cream in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Add the honey and zest or extract and mix until firm but not overwhipped.

• To assemble the cake, split each layer in half horizontally. Pipe a ring of chilled ganache along the outer edge of 1 layer, and then spread one third of the whipped cream inside the ganache. Top this with another layer of cake and repeat the process on each layer except the top.

• Frost the sides and top of the cake with the ganache and then chill for at least 1 hour or freeze for 30 minutes to give the cake more stability.

• Remove the cake from the refrigerator or freezer and lightly frost it a second time.