Chocolate Strawberry Pie

Refrigerate 1 cup of Semisweet Chocolate Ganache for at least 1 hour. Keep the remaining ganache at room temperature until needed.

Remove the sides from the springform pan (do not remove the bottom of the pan from the cake; this will make it easier to handle later). Use a cake spatula to smooth and fill in the sides of the cake with 2 to 3 tablespoons of room-temperature ganache. Evenly spread the remaining amount of this ganache over the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for 1 hour.

Transfer the chilled cup of ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a large-sized star tip. Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Pipe a circle of 12 evenly-spaced stars along the outside edge of the top of the cake. Place a strawberry, stem side down, into each ganache star. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes.

Cut the cake with a serrated slicer, heating the blade of the slicer under hot running water before making each slice. Allow the slices to come to room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

Notes: Recipe courtesy of Marcel Desaulniers, "Death by Chocolate" and "Death by Chocolate Cookies"