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.
Course
Cake
Prep Time1hour
Cook Time40minutes
Total Time1hour40minutes
Servings12-16 servings
AuthorBarry C. Parsons
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
2cupssugar
2cupsall purpose flour
3/4cupcocoa
2tsp.baking powder
1tspbaking soda
1/2tspsalt
2eggs
1cupsoured milkadd a tbsp lemon juice or vinegar to the milk
1cupblack coffee
1/2cupvegetable oil
1tspvanilla extract
For the raspberry compote
3cupsfresh or frozen raspberries
2/3cupsugar
1tbspcorn starch
a little waterless than 1/4 cup
For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1poundchocolatechopped in small pieces
½cupbutter
2cupssugar
2/3cupwater
6egg whites at room temperature
¼tspcream of tartar
2tspvanilla extract
Pinchsalt
2cupssoftened unsalted butter
Instructions
To prepare the chocolate cake
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer for 2 minutes.
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.
Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before constructing the cake.
To prepare the raspberry compote
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
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.
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.
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..
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.
Beat until smooth after each addition.
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
Split the cake layers in half, horizontally, making 4 layers in total.
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.
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.