Chocolate cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two 6 inch pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder. ( if using)  Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, vegetable oil and sugar until combined. About 3 minutes.
4. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until there are no more streaks of sour cream and batter is smooth.
5. Add the flour mixture. Beat until flour is almost incorporated. (you should still see flour in the batter) Add the hot water and mix until combined and batter is smooth.
6. Divide cake batter among prepared cake pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.

Strawberry cream cheese frosting

1. Beat 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, crush the freeze dried strawberries until powder. Remove 1 tablespoon of crushed freeze dried strawberries and set aside. (This will be used for the whipping cream to pipe on top of cake)
3. To a mixer bowl add cream cheese, powdered sugar, crushed freeze dried strawberries and vanilla extract. Beat until frosting is smooth and light. ( adjust the sugar at this moment. *)
4. Add the heavy whipping cream and fold until there are no more streaks of heavy whipping cream.

Chocolate ganache

1. To a bowl add chocolate chips and set aside.
2. Add heavy whipping cream to a small sauce pan. Heat the heavy cream on medium-low heat until almost boiling.
3. Pour the heavy whipping cream over the chocolate chips. Cover with a lid or paper towel. Let it sit undisturbed for 1 minutes. Then stir until smooth.
4. Cool slightly before pouring over cake.

Assembling cake

1. Place cake layer on cake stand.
2. Add a generous amount of the strawberry cream cheese frosting.
3. Add the sliced strawberries. Then drizzle with some chocolate ganache.
4. Add the 2nd cake layer. Frost the tops and sides of cake with remaining strawberry frosting. Refrigerate.
5. Once the chocolate ganache has slightly cooled off, but is still runny, pour chocolate ganache over cake using drip cake method: using a spoon carefully pour the chocolate ganache over the sides of the cake. The ganache should immediately drip down. Continue the process until all the sides are done. Pour some of the chocolate ganache in the center of the cake. And spread until all the center is covered. 
6. If you want to pipe frosting on top of the cake: To a mixer bowl add 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and remaining 1 tablespoon crushed freeze dried strawberries. Beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe on top of cake.
7. Garnish with more sliced strawberries.