Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Silky Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Silky Buttercream Frosting. Alternating layers of homemade chocolate cake, raspberry compote and the silky-smoothest chocolate buttercream frosting imaginable; a true celebration cake.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Silky Buttercream Frosting

Happy Birthday to me!! Today’s my birthday and this chocolate raspberry cake was my birthday cake of choice for 2009, simply because I can’t get enough of anything chocolate and raspberry. in this recipe a chocolate scratch cake is filled with a raspberry compote and my favourite frosting ever: chocolate buttercream! The chocolate buttercream frosting  admittedly may take a little practice to master but it is well worth the effort! It is just so melt-in-your-mouth silky smooth and delicious.

There are a couple of slices of this one still in the fridge from a little gathering of friends last night. Is it wrong to have this for breakfast? It is my birthday after all! 😉

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Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Silky Buttercream Frosting

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Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Silky Buttercream Frosting

Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

1 hr 40 mins

 

Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Silky Buttercream Frosting - alternating layers of homemade chocolate cake, raspberry compote and the silky-smoothest chocolate buttercream frosting imaginable; a true celebration cake.

Course: Cake

Servings: 12 -16 servings

Author: Barry C. Parsons

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup soured milk add a tbsp lemon juice or vinegar to the milk
• 1 cup black coffee
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the raspberry compote

• 3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• a little water less than 1/4 cup

For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

• 1 pound chocolate chopped in small pieces
• ½ cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 6 egg whites at room temperature
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch salt
• 2 cups softened unsalted butter

Instructions

To prepare the chocolate cake

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer for 2 minutes.
2. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9 inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
3. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before constructing the cake.

To prepare the raspberry compote

1. Boil the raspberries and sugar together gently for 10 minutes and then thicken with a slurry of 1 tbsp corn starch dissolved in a little water. Stir gently and continuously as you add the corn starch slurry to the boiling berries. Continue to cook for one minute, stirring constantly before removing the compote from the heat. Cool completely in the fridge before using to construct the cake.

To prepare the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1. Combine the chocolate and 1/2 cup butter and melt in a double boiler. Take this just to the melting point and let it cool to almost room temperature before using it in the frosting later in the instructions.
2. Next, combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil. Continue to boil over medium heat without stirring until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.
3. Meanwhile beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and vanilla together to stiff peaks to have this meringue ready when the sugar reaches the proper temperature..
4. Slowly pour in the sugar syrup hitting the side of the bowl and not the beater/whisk. Continue beating the frosting for 10-15 minutes until the meringue is completely cool. When completely cool, slowly begin to add the softened butter, a few tablespoons at a time.
5. Beat until smooth after each addition.
6. Slowly add the chocolate mixture to the meringue mixture and beat well until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. This may take 15 minutes or so and you may have to chill the frosting for several minutes before beating it again to get it to stiffen. Alternatively, you can place the frosting bowl in an ice bath while continuing to beat constantly until the icing stiffens sufficiently.

To construct the cake

1. Split the cake layers in half, horizontally, making 4 layers in total.
2. Fill with alternating layers of buttercream frosting and raspberry compote. On the raspberry layers, I pipe a perimeter of the frosting around the layer first to act as a well to keep the compote contained.
3. Frost the outside of the cake and garnish with fresh raspberries and chocolate ganache or chocolate curls if desired.

Recipe Notes

For the chocolate ganache garnish, just melt together 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips with a couple of tbsp of whipping cream. Drizzle it over the cake in whatever way you choose. A sandwich bag with the corner snipped off works very well for this job.