Double Chocolate Berry Cake
By: Kas Tebbetts
Tags: Food, Chocolate, Recipe

Cake makes me feel better. Especially this one. I made this cake after my calculus exam, when my brain was fried and I wanted to make something chocolatey and pretty that had nothing to do with integrals.

Fudge cake is layered with raspberry preserves and fresh strawberries, and covered with the most amazing creamy chocolate sour cream frosting. This is the definition of easy and elegant.

The cake batter begins with semi-sweet chocolate, an egg, sugar, and milk, all melted together in a small saucepan.

Shortening and sugar are creamed together in a large bowl, and then we add 2 eggs and vanilla. Once all that is blended into a silky mixture, we gradually sift in the dry ingredients, adding them alternately with more milk to keep the batter moist.

Then blend in the chocolate mixture until you get a relatively thin, smooth batter.

While the cakes are in the oven baking, you can make the frosting. Chocolate on chocolate. The sour cream in the frosting makes it creamy and a bit tangy, kind of like cream cheese frosting on red velvet cake. It balances out all the sweetness perfectly.

Once the cakes cooled, I spread raspberry preserves mixed with vanilla on the first layer. It’s perfect glue for freshly sliced strawberries. With strawberry, raspberry, and rich chocolate, it’s like a trip to the Godiva store all in one cake.

Then we add the second layer of cake, and some frosting magic happens. (That includes a lot of guiltless finger-licking).

Then you have a delectable, moist, savor-every-bite chocolate cake. Honestly, I used to suck at baking cakes. Frosting was my enemy and batter tended to stick to pans or bake unevenly. Well, I have an encouraging message for all amateur bakers: practice will make you better. Just try it. This cake is definitely your friend.

Double Chocolate Berry Cake

Makes: 2 9-inch cakes + plenty of frosting to coat and decorate, Time: 45 minutes active, 25 minutes baking Ingredients: For the cake: 1+1/2 cups whole milk, 1 + 2/3 cup sugar, 3 oz (12 squares) semi-sweet Baker’s chocolate, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup shortening, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 teaspoon instant coffee, 2 cups cake flour, 1 tsp soda, 1/2 tsp salt For the frosting: 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup dark chocolate chips, 3 cups confectioners sugar For the filling: 1/3 cup raspberry jam or preserves, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 6–7 fresh strawberries 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and grease well with baking spray. Set aside. 2. In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup milk, 2/3 cup sugar, 3 oz chocolate, and a slightly beaten eggs. Cook on medium heat and stir until everything is melted. As soon as the mixture comes to a simmer, remove it from the heat. Set aside to cool. 3. In a large bowl, cream together shortening and remaining cup of sugar. Add remaining 2 eggs one at a time, beating well until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and combine. 4. Add sifted dry ingredients (cake flour, soda, salt, instant coffee) to shortening mixture alternately with remaining milk. 5. Blend in the cooled chocolate mixture until fully incorporated. Split the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. 6. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Place cakes on a rack to cool. 7. While the cakes are baking, prepare the frosting. Melt chocolate chips and butter in the bowl of a double boiler. Blend in sour cream, salt, and vanilla. Add confectioners sugar gradually until the frosting is spreading consistency. 8. For the filling: Add vanilla to raspberry jam or preserves and heat in the microwave for 10–15 seconds to make it easier to spread. 9. Allow the cakes to cool completely before removing from their pans. Spread raspberry mixture evenly over the first layer of the cake. Cover preserves with a layer of thinly sliced strawberries (make sure they are the same thickness so the cake lies flat). 10. Add the remaining layer and frost. Store in the fridge. (You can set the cake out an hour or two before serving, or warm it for a few seconds in the microwave if you prefer.) Enjoy!

I had no particular reason to make this cake on Monday, so it ended up going to my mom’s office on Tuesday, where it was happily eaten by anyone who happened to walk past it. After all,

is there anything better than random cake?

Besides, you never need a reason for chocolate. But no calculus is a pretty good reason.

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