This summer has been beyond hot. I moved to Minnesota because of the famously cold winters (no lie!). I love the cold, the snow and cuddling up with a warm cup of tea or coffee. This summer though is getting to be way too much for me and my desire to have the oven on and bake is driving me crazy. My poor oven is getting seriously neglected in this heat! So after we got invited to a housewarming party for some dear friends I cranked up the AC on high and jumped on the opportunity to make a cake that would make everyone go “wow”.
For the cake base I used a modified buttermilk cake recipe that is super moist. I normally do a half recipe for this cake which makes a perfect double layer 6-inch cake. For the party I doubled it and made an 8-inch cake. What makes this cake a winner the moist and delicate crumb, and the rich chocolate flavor. Then what else could I tie the two beautiful layers of cake together than with some fresh raspberries to give it that big bang of flavor it needed.
You can never go wrong mid-summer with anything that has fresh raspberries in it. Add chocolate to it and you have an instant winner. I wanted to make a truffle type chocolate frosting so I came up with a great way to do that by adding a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the melted chocolate. That made it rich and bitter like a truffle you would get from a shop. Then I layered fresh raspberries between the cake halves, covered it all with that creamy frosting and piled it high with chocolate curls on top. Easy!
My raspberry chocolate cake had the “wow factor” that I was looking for visually plus that great balance of flavors and textures which makes a cake go from good to amazing. It was so simple and quick to put together! With just a little effort you too can have a great looking (and even better tasting) chocolate raspberry cake for any gathering that will surely impress your friends.
Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Baking Time: 40-50 min
Decorating/Cooling: 45 min
Chocolate Cake Ingredients
- 1 c water or coffee
- 120g (8.5 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 40g (1/3 cup) high quality cocoa powder such as Valrohna
- 50g (1/2 cup) cake flour
- 300g (2 2/3 c) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 440g (2 cups) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, whole
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 c buttermilk
- 2 tsp vanilla paste/extract
- 1 batch Chocolate Truffle Swiss Meringue frosting (below)
- 2 pints of fresh raspberries
- 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate bar, shaved into curls
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300F. Line the base of your cake pan with parchment paper, and with a bakers spray lightly coat the base and sides of the cake pan. Set aside.
- Place a small sauce pan on your kitchen scale
and tare it (zero it out), add in the butter until it reads 120g. Tare it out again add in cocoa powder until it reads 40g. Add in one cup of water and place the pan over medium low heat until the butter is melted. Whisk until well combined. Pour into the bowl of your stand mixer, on a low speed whisk to cool slightly while you prepare your dry ingredients.
- Place a 3 quart bowl on your kitchen scale and tare it out to 0g. Add in cake flour until it reads 50g, tare it out add in the unbleached flour until reads 300g. Tare it out again and add the sugar until it reads 440g. Add in 1 tsp of baking soda, mix lightly with a fork and set aside. In a small bowl add in the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla mix with a fork to combine.
- The cocoa mixture should be cool turn off the mixture, add in half of the flour mixture, and half of the egg milk mixture. Whisk on medium for 1 minute. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides and add in remaining flour and egg mixture. On medium speed mix for 1 minute until well combined and smooth. Divide into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 35 minutes, rotate the pans front to back, left to right, and bake 15-20 min more until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- (If you want to be completely pedantic, like I am, place the cake tin on the food scale and tare it out to 0g. Pour in 700g and replace with second cake tin pour in 700g. This should be all of your cake batter divided as equally as possible between the two tins. Keep adding in 25g increments of remaining batter to each tin until you get the weight as close to even as possible.)
- Once the cake is cool prepare your assembly area. Have your frosting, turn table with your serving plate on it, raspberries, chocolate shavings, and cake layers ready.
- Place a small blob of the frosting on the serving plate to hold the cake in place. Place it top side down, add about 1/2 cup of frosting to the middle and spread evenly. Arrange one pint of raspberries on the frosting and cover with a bit more frosting to create an even layer of frosting for your next layer of cake. Place the next layer on, top side down again. Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of the buttercream to set the crumb. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes until the frosting is firm to the touch. Add the remaining cream to the cake and be sure to smooth the sides out evenly and flat. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes until the frosting is firm to the touch. In a bowl toss the chocolate shavings and raspberries until mixed up. Gently pour on top the cake. If some fall down the sides that is OK! That makes it look even more sexy ;)
Chocolate Truffle Swiss Buttercream Frosting
- 5 egg whites
- 2/3 c sugar
- 4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz milk chocolate
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
Instructions
Prepare a medium sauce pan with 1″ of water and set to a low simmer. In a 2 quart bowl add in the egg whites and sugar whisk until well combined and slightly foamy. Place over the simmering water continue to whisk until you can no longer feel the sugar in the mixture. It should just feel smooth and glossy. Transfer to the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk on high speed until cool, about 7-10 minutes. While the egg whites are whisking in the stand mixer, in a second add the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder and melt over the simmering water until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Mixing will help the chocolate cool faster. Once the egg whites are cool with the mixer still on high begin adding in the butter 4 tbsp at a time. Once all the butter is in the mixture will look split. Keep whisking and it will come together and look like a frosting. Add in the cool chocolate and whisk until completely combined. Taste, for sweeter frosting add in powdered/frosting sugar until desired sweetness. Mix until combined, and use immediately or freeze for up to a month.
Beyond hot! I cannot agree with you more…I have been eating salads and chinese take out for the past week because I did not want to spend too much time in the kitchen. But then looking at your choco-raspeberry cake made me want to endure anything beyond hot. Wow! this is a real masterpiece!
Anyhoo, We have been keeping an eye out for unique and interesting bloggers with phenomenal photography skills, and yours have caught our attention! We have just recently launched a food photo gallery http://www.yumgoggle.com/gallery/ that allows you to showcase all your great work and share it with all of our visitors. We’d be proud to have your work as part of our growing collection to continue to have a larger reach and further inspire all fellow food lovers out there!
@yumgoggle I know! I love fresh greens don’t get me wrong but I totally am looking forward to fall.
This might be the most stunning cake I have ever seen!
@Chung-Ah wow I am blushing, thank you so much.
WOW factor EXTREME!! This cake takes my breath away! It’s absolutely gorgeous!! Love your photos!
@Deea Thank you, we make a good team and we hope it shows in the food/pictures.
Great idea about the cocoa powder in the frosting to make it truffle like. I’m definitely going to give that a try. Fabulous recipe – well done.
@Patricia Awesome, let us know how it goes. =D
Wow indeed! This cake is glorious :) Raspberry and choco are pretty much the top combination in my book!
Hi. The cake looks amazing and would love to make it for a friend’s birthday on Wednesday, but I have a very silly question. Is the recipe listed for the 6 inch cake or the 8 inch cake? Thanks.
The recipe as stated makes two 8″ cake rounds. Good luck!
Thanks for replying so quickly! I really appreciate it.
Made this cake for my mother’s birthday. Very easy to make and just delicious!
I don’t have kitchen scale. Can you post recipe using measurements of cups and/or tablespoons etc.?
I can sure try! When it’s ready I will just add it to the recipe above. You can also find our converstion chart under the recipe list. Quick link for you.
Is cake flour just self raising flour?
No it’s not the same. Cake flour has a lower protein content and is made from soft wheat flour. It is chlorinated to further break down the strength of the gluten and is smooth and velvety in texture. Perfect for cakes.
Self-Rising flour has slightly higher protein and is made flour plus baking powder and salt. I don’t use this type of because I prefer to add my own levening agents and salt. It has the same texture/ gluten as all purpose flour.
The sugar in the frosting mixture, is it powdered or granulated? Thanks!
It’s granulated sugar. Sorry for the confusion
Thanks! This is a gorgeous cake, cannot WAIT to try it! :-)