Chocolate Whiskey Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Candied Rose Petals

I'm not quite sure where my mother got this recipe from, but it has certainly earned one of the top places in my cake hall of fame. Once you try this thick, ridiculously rich cake you shall see why! The Whiskey gives this cake a very unique flavour which goes surprisingly well with chocolate (but then again, what doesn't?) The batter could very well make one massive, aerated cake but this cake is instead very dense and devilishly delectable. And obviously out of the kindness of my heart, shall share the recipe with you.

Ingredients:

1 250g block of dark energy chocolate
250g butter
1 1/2 cups hot water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tblsp Whiskey
2 tsp vanilla essense
1 1/4 cup self-raising flour
2Tblsp cocoa
1 cup caster sugar

Preheat oven to 150ºC and line an 18cm cake tin with baking paper
Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat or in the microwave in 30 second bursts on 50% power.
 Transfer to a standing mixer or large bowl and add the hot water. Allow to cool until the base of the bowl is touchable then whisk in the eggs, whiskey and vanilla until combined.
Add the self-raising flour, cocoa and sugar and whisk until there are no lumps.
Pour into the prepared tin (it is a very wet batter as you can imagine, but do not be alarmed, that's how it should be) Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until the top doesn't wobble when the tin is lightly swayed.

Lavish in sumptuous amounts of chocolate ganache and garnish with toppings of your choice (I used candied rose petals, see recipe here)