Mint Chocolate Ganache Cake

We've just been having all sorts of cooking adventures around here lately!  Becky, Avery and I had this one together. After Becky perused the Lion House Cakes and Cupcakes book, we all agreed that we should just make the cake on the cover because it looks and sounds fabulous. Chocolate and mint, right?  Ganache, to be more specific (i.e. really, really good chocolate).  For starters, our cake, uh, didn't exactly look like the one on the cover:

Apparently we missed something.  Our mint frosting part was a little lacking in the stiffness and there was waaay more than you actually needed.  Maybe we should have watched the bonus dvd that comes with the book to get some tips because here's what our cake did after we had cut it up to serve everyone:

I turned back to look and the top layer had just slipped and flipped right off onto the counter!  Ha! :)  Really, we weren't impressed with the taste so much either.  So why am I posting this?  Becky is going to remake it sometime and make all the corrections we talked about and make it fabulous, right Becky?
I'll post the original recipe, but tell you here that we decided that it doesn't need the whipping cream and the cool whip.  It just makes too much and things get runny with all that extra mixing.  We would just try the whipped cream and maybe use a stabilizer.  We also only made 3 round and used the rest of the batter for mini cupcakes.  Also, the mint flavoring is so not enough.  Definitely add more than it calls for.  In fact, you'll need more than 1/4 tsp, which wasn't enough either.

Mint Chocolate Ganache Cake

Cake
2 chocolate cake mixes, any flavor

Ganache
1 c. heavy cream
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Whipped Mint Frosting
3 c. heavy cream, whipped until stiff
1 8 oz container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/8 tsp mint flavoring (or more according to taste)
1-2 drops green food coloring
1 (7 oz) semisweet chocolate bar, chocolate molding chocolate, or chocolate bark, for chocolate curls
Mint leaves, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour four 9-inch round cake pans.

For cake: Prepare and bake both cake mixes according to directions on box.  Allow to cool completely or freeze to make it easier to frost and assemble.

For ganache: Place cream in a small saucepan and heat on medium heat until bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan.  Remove from heat. Pour chocolate chips into cream and stir until smooth. Set aside.

For frosting: Gently fold together whipped cream, whipped topping, mint flavoring and food coloring.  Do not beat.

Trim the tops off 3 cake layers where they start to round from the side to the top. Place 1 layer on serving plate, cut side up.  Place one-third of the ganache on that layer and spread it so it will slightly run down the sides.  Place one-third of the frosting on top of the ganache and spread just to the edge of the cake.  Place second cake layer on top of frosting and repeat with ganache and frosting.  Repeat with third cake layer.  Garnish with chocolate curls and mint leaves.

For chocolate curls: Warm chocolate bar 10 seconds in the microwave and then peel with a vegetable peeler.