Prepare the custard

In a medium saucepan, heat one cup of milk, all of the cream and the sugar and over medium low, bring to a scald. ***

In a small bowl whisk the quarter cup of milk with the cornstarch and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the vanilla.

Very slowly, drizzle the hot milk and cream into the egg yolks whisking vigorously as you drizzle. This tempers the eggs so they don’t scramble. Keep pouring until all of the milk and cream has been whisked in, then pour back into the saucepan.

Over medium low, whisk in the milk and cornstarch mixture into the sauce pan and whisk continuously for 1 ½ minutes or until it thickens. Once thick, cook and whisk for 1 ½ more minutes.

Pour into a container and let cool for 10 minutes. Stir once and place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the custard, letting it adhere to the top.

Use a sharp skewer or toothpick and puncture the plastic all across the top so the steam can escape. Refrigerate for four hours or overnight.

Prepare the Cake

Make the cake by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F once you are ready to bake. Note, the butter must be softened and at room temperature. Don’t preheat the oven until you are ready with the butter.

Take a stick of butter and grease two 9” round cake pans, running the stick around the bottom and sides. Use your fingers to touch up any dry spots.

Take two sheets of parchment and cut two 9” circles. Place them onto the bottom of each buttered pan. Don’t grease the top of the paper.

Make sure that the butter is softened to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in center of oven.

Place a small wide bowl on a kitchen scale with a sieve in the bowl. Zero the scale. Scoop in large spoonfuls of self-rising flour into the sieve until you have exactly 8 ounces. Sift, then sift in the baking powder and set that bowl aside.

Weigh out the 8 ounces of the granulated sugar.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until completely incorporated.

Fold in the flour and butter into the sugar/egg mixture using a spatula or wooden spoon. Do not whisk or beat. Continue folding the batter until smooth, airy and delicate.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, they should have risen to about halfway up the pans, be slightly golden brown and starting to pull away from the sides. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. If not bake for a few more minutes.

Remove from oven and cool five minutes then place a dishcloth over the tops and invert into your hand, then flip back over onto a cooling rack to cool face up. Cool completely.

Place one cooled cake on your cake serving dish or pedestal.

Assemble the Cake

Remove the cold custard and spread the entire amount over the cake, spreading just to the edge.

Top with the second cooled cake and make sure it sits flat and even.

Prepare the Ganache

Heat the heavy cream in the microwave until very hot but not boiling.

In a medium glass bowl, place the chocolate chips and pour the hot cream over the top. Cover with an inverted pan or cover for four minutes. Remove cover and whisk until creamy.

This is important: The consistency of the chocolate mixture should be thick enough that it won’t run off the top and down the sides but thin enough that it spreads when poured over the top just reaching the edges and a little drizzling down the edges. Test it on the back of a soup spoon. If it is too runny, let it cool a bit and it will thicken as it sits or stir in a few more chocolate chips. If too thick, heat a little more cream to dilute it.

Frost the cake

Pour the entire contents over the top of the cake and coax it to the edges with a small spatula if necessary, allowing a little to drizzle down the edges.

Melt the white chocolate discs in a bowl in the microwave just until melted.

Spoon the white chocolate into a small pastry bag with a tiny bit of the tip cut off and squeeze rings on the top of the ganache starting with a small ring in the center and making bigger rings moving to the outer edge of the cake.

Take two toothpicks together in your fingers and starting in the center, drag the toothpicks from center to outer edge all around the cake about an inch apart from each other to form the decorative top seen in our pictures.

Serve immediately. Leftovers should be refrigerated and brought back to room temperature for serving (otherwise the butter cake will taste dry).