Double Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling

Hey everyone!!

This week’s blog was a very interesting one. So on my last blog I know I talked about how I wanted to start cooking healthy things, however, I had to get in one more cake for a special occasion, my dad’s birthday. That man LOVES chocolate cakes so I thought it would be a good opportunity to make this double chocolate cake with strawberry filling. The original recipe calls for raspberry filling, however I’m not too big on that so I changed it up, I’m gonna leave that up to ya’ll! Im going to be honest and admit that I cheated a little bit on this recipe. I didnt have as much time as I wanted to so instead of making the filling I just bought straberry jelly and used that instead. Im still going to give ya’ll the steps on how to make the filling in case ya’ll want to try it out.I spend probably $20-$25, 12-14 servings.

Ingredients:

• Cake:
  • 3 oz. of semisweet chocolate, chopped. (I used chocolate chips)
  • 1 1/2 cups of hot brewed coffee 
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil (or canola oil)
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Frosting
  • 1 pound semisweet chocolate (again, I used chocolate chips)
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.
• Filling
  • One (10 once) bag frozen raspberries, thawed (frozen strawberries could be used as well.
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • (Again, this is optional, if anyone is in a rush like I was and doesn’t have time to make the filling, you can always buy jelly of the flavor of your choice… I went with strawberry)

Steps:

• Cake:
  • Preheat oven to 300 F and grease two 10 in. cake pans, or three 8 in. cake pans. (it really depends on how tall you want the cake to be. I actually used 2 pants, one was bigger than the other). Spray pans with nonstick spray.
  • In a medium bowl, combine chocolate chips  with coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
  • In a large bowl, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly. Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until well combined. Add dry mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.
  • Divide batter between pans and bake in middle rack of oven for 50-65 minutes, or until tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. (I left mine for 55 minutes) *Remember to fill the pans no more than 2/3 full with batter, they will rise while baking, so this will prevent them to overflow*
  • Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a think knife around edges on pans and invert layers onto racks. Let layers cool completely, Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature. (I left them to cool over night).

• Frosting:
  1. in a 1 1/2 to 2 quart saucepan bring cream, sugar and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar in dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Add butter pieces and whisk until smooth.
  2. Transfer frosting a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable. (in the original recipe it says it may be necessary to chill for a bit so it gets to that point, but I don’t recommend it. I did that for about 5-10 minutes and the chocolate started to harden)
• Filling:
  1. Puree raspberries (or strawberries) in a food processor or blender. press the puree through a fine mesh strainer with the back of a spoon, removing the seeds. Heat the puree in a small pot with the sugar and cornstarch until the mixture boils, stirring constantly. As it boils, it should quickly thicken. Let cool.
• Assemble cake:
  1. Spread thin layer of chocolate frosting on 1st cake layer followed by a layer of the raspberry (or strawberry) filling. Top with the 2nd cake layer and repeat (if using a 3rd layer). If only using two cake layers, cover the top and sides with the remaining chocolate frosting. I used a few strawberries at the top to decorate it. Cover cake and put in fridge to be chilled. Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.

    

Making this cake was quite an experience, I made the rookie mistake of not checking if I had the right amounts of some things, so I had to make a few trips to the grocery store. After the cake was done and it was time to put it in the fridge, I knew it said on the instructions to take it out and have it be at room temperature before serving, however, I thought this cake would taste good cold. Which it totally did, but when my dad blew out the birthday candles and it was time to cut the cake, well it was a little hard because the chocolate had hardened a little. Of course it gave us a few giggles, but it got me worried that it wouldn’t be good but as soon as everyone took a bite it was delicious! So I’ll leave that decision of having it room temperature or cold up to ya’ll. I wouldn’t really change anything about this cake, it was delish!!

Woah that was a long recipe! Hope ya’ll enjoy it, and as always, I’d love to hear some feedback!!

1 more delish dish down, many more to come!