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My friend Anna had her 25th birthday party this weekend and I baked her this delicious, moist, amazing chocolate cake to celebrate. This cake is a chocoholics dream! Its chocolate cake with a creamy milk chocolate ganache frosting enrobed in a silky dark chocolate ganache. I was a little nervous about it being too rich and sweet, but it wasn’t at all heavy. The cake is so moist even after a few days in the fridge. I think I found my perfect chocolate cake recipe! I should warn you that this is a pretty time intensive cake, but at the end it is totally worth it! To save on time, you can skip out on frosting the cake and directly cover the entire cake in chocolate ganache as is. I frosted it because I wanted a smooth finish to the cake, but without the frosting it’ll have a nice rustic look to it. You can also fill the cake with whatever you’d like. I used a raspberry filling because that’s Anna’s favorite chocolate pairing. Be creative and make this impressive cake yourself!
Cook time: 4-5 hours (most of it is just waiting) Serves: two 9 inch round cakes, 20-25 people
Chocolate Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1.5 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips, melted
1 cup sour cream
Raspberry Filling
1 cup raspberries (I used frozen)
2 tbsp. honey
¼ cup water
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
6 oz. milk chocolate
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup butter
½ cup powdered sugar
pinch salt
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Ganache
8oz dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1. Pre heat the oven to 350 F
2. Cream the butter and sugar on low-speed with your mixer
3. Add 1 egg at a time and mix in between additions until you have incorporated all the eggs. Add the vanilla extract and mix for another minute.
4. In a separate bowl,sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder.
5. Add the flour to the creamed butter mixture and mix until all the flour is incorporated into the batter.
6. Add the sour cream and melted chocolate to the batter and mix until the batter is all one shade of beautiful brown.
7. Pour the batter evenly into two 9 inch round pans and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool completely on a wire rack.
8. Raspberry filling: In a small saucepan, dissolve the water and honey over low heat. Then add the raspberries and stir. You can add more honey or sugar if you’d like it to be sweeter. Let this simmer over low heat for 5- 10 minutes until it thickens. Stir often. Let this cool to room temperature before filling the cake.
9. Level the cakes and spread the raspberry filling on the first layer of cake. Then top it with the second layer. Put this in the fridge for 15-20 minutes while it sets.
10. Chocolate Ganache Frosting: While the cake sets make the frosting. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until it comes to a boil. Place your chocolate into a bowl and pour the hot heavy cream over the chocolate. Let it sit for 1 minute. Then start whisking until the chocolate is completely melted and glossy. Cool the ganache enough so that it wouldn’t melt the butter. In your mixer bowl, add the softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Give it a quick mix with the whisk attachment until everything is incorporated and the butter is nice and fluffy. Add the chocolate ganache to the mixing bowl and whip for about 5 minutes on medium speed, scraping the bowl down with a spatula every few minutes. Refrigerate the frosting until you are ready to frost your cake.
11. Take the layered cake out of the fridge and cover the cake with frosting until the sides and top are smooth.
12. Freeze the cake for at least 1 hour to let the frosting set.
13. Chocolate Ganache: Place your chopped chocolate in a small heat-proof bowl. In a small microwave-safe bowl, add the heavy cream and corn syrup. Microwave this for about 1 minute or until hot. Now cover the chocolate with the hot heavy cream/corn syrup mixture and let it sit for 1 minute. Start whisking until the chocolate become nice and silky and add in the butter. Mix until all the butter melted and the chocolate is nice and glossy.
14. Set your cake on a wire rack and place the rack on top of a baking sheet (make sure it has a lip) covered with parchment paper. Now pour the chocolate ganache over the top of the cake and use an offset spatula to guide the chocolate over the edges, making sure all the sides get covered. Continue pouring the rest of the chocolate until the entire cake is covered. Now pick up the baking sheet and give it a few taps to get all the excess chocolate off the cake. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours and decorate.
WARNING: If you live in a warmer climate – keep this cake in the fridge until you are ready to serve otherwise it will melt! I learned the hard way 🙂 but it still tasted amazing!
