Chocolate Chocolate Cake

Just playing around with decoration options. I like the galactical swirls with silver centers, but I am still not content. This cake had two layers of chocolate ganache filling and a generous ganach crumb coat, topped with the chocolate butter cream. It was way too much ganache for my taste, although everyone else seemed happy to eat every last bite on the plate. They were probably being polite - not that I hang with a particularly polite crowd. I think I will have to whip the ganache next time.

It is now time to speak a little of coffee. Here are some photos for inspiration.



These people make a pretty fine cup of java. Too bad they are so fucking precise about the martha pattern on top. I find it beautiful in an irritating way and get immense pleasure and satisfaction in messing it up. It makes the coffee taste so much better.



This is my coffee at home. It is my idea of a perfect lait. The thick espresso foam is pushed to the edge by the milk foam so I can work my way around the bowl sipping it off. I can scoop little bits of the milk foam off (untainted by espresso) for the cat or kids. (Or perhaps I'm just saying this because I can't make the martha-like wheat chef pattern. I doubt it.)
The milk is not scalded, but hot, (if the milk is scalded, or heaven forbid, boiled, the lait will taste not nearly as good as it should). One should never burn their tongue from a cup of coffee. The bowl is beautiful, with a heavy base - not tippy. I'm a bit of a snob here, as I think the perfect bowl for coffee is made in France. I'm not sure why, but the shape is ideal, and the density of the porclain seems just right.
I hate coffee served in glass. It could be the best coffee in the world and I hate drinking it out of clear glass mugs, cups, whatever. All those lait layers, pfft, save it for my shooters please. I don't like the glass against my lips, and it always seems to hot. Then, after I'm done my coffee I have to look at the scuzzy film remaining in the cup.
But the worst is styrofoam. It keeps the coffee way too hot, and if the person making the coffee has boiled the shit out of it, it will never cool down. I always burn my tongue when I drink out of styrofoam. And then there are the enviromental concerns, (although I am sure they make something styro-like that is biodegradable), but it still does't deal with the heat factor, or the weird texture styrofoam has against my lips. Not to mention that I compulsively want to bite it, making for sloppy drinking.
Does any one else ever feel like they have to bite styrofoam?