Saturday 24 January 2015

Chocolate and Raspberry Layer Cake


Last week I asked J what cake he would like to have. He said chocolate so I asked him to pair it with a fruit so I could enter it to the Love Cake challenge which has the theme of Feeling Fruity.  He chose cherries but I'd only recently made a chocolate and cherry black forest cake so he chose raspberries. I love the combination of chocolate and raspberries so I immediately did a google search for 'chocolate and raspberry cake'. On the image search, we both pointed to this cake and said wow. Mine does not look as good as the picture on the blog but it's close enough and more importantly it tasted really good. 

The cake turned out to be humongous. I knew it was a 3 layer cake but I didn't expect it to be this tall. There was a good height to each of the sponges and with the addition of the icing it made for a very impressive looking cake. The chocolate sponge was really moist and chocolatey and still tasted fresh a week after baking. Yes it took us more than a week to eat the cake despite giving away almost half the cake! The icing was our favourite. I've not made icing using jam before and I'll definitely be using this idea again. I was worried it was going to be too sweet but it wasn't and it gave such a lovely pink colour to the icing. No artificial colouring required. The best bit of course is the chocolate ganache dripping down the cake. I was also rather pleased at finding some super large raspberries to decorate the cake with. 

I'm sending this to a few blogging challenges...

AlphaBakes hosted by myself this month and co hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter is L and this is definitely a Layer cake. I have to thank Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist for the idea of a layer cake for L for Alphabakes as she submitted a very gorgeous Layered Dark & White Chocolate Raspberry Cake for the challenge. 


Love Cake hosted by Ness from Jibber Jabber Uk. As mentioned this was the original inspiration for the fruit element of the cake as the theme this month is Feeling Fruity. This cake has fresh raspberries on top and raspberry jam in the icing. 



Bake of the Week hosted by Casa Costello 


 Cook Blog Share hosted by Supergolden Bakes






 making the raspberry icing - I love the bright pink colour 

 slightly messy icing but look at the size of that cake! 

 I love how the ganache drips down the side 


 with chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries on top 

 

 Look at the size of those raspberries! 

 A gigantic slice of cake 

Recipe adapted slightly from GrandBaby Cakes (which was adapted from Country Living) 

For the cake 
475g plain flour
160g cocoa powder
450g caster sugar
1.5 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
180mls vevgetable oil
300mls sour cream
250mls hot water

For the icing
450g butter
490g seedless raspberry jam
380g icing sugar, sifted

For the chocolate ganache
150g dark chocolate
150mls double cream

To decorate
Fresh raspberries

  • Preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Spray 3 x 18cm sandwich tins with non stick spray and line with greaseproof paper.
  • Sift the flour and cocoa powder in to a large bowl.
  • Add in the bicarbonate or soda, baking powder and sugar.
  • Place these ingredients in your mixing bowl (if using an electric mixer; otherwise mix by hand)
  • Add in the remaining ingredients and mix until you get a smooth batter.
  • Divide the batter evenly between the 3 tins - I usually weigh mine so they are all the same size.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 - 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  • Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 
  • To make the icing, beat the butter and icing sugar until smooth. Then add in the raspberry jam and continue beating until it's smooth.
  • Spread the icing between each layer of cake and cover the cake on the top and sides with the icing.
  • To make the chocolate ganache, heat the cream in a small saucepan until just boiling.
  • Remove from the heat and allow to stand for a few minutes. 
  • Add in the chocolate and stir continuously until smooth. 
  • Pour the chocolate ganache in the centre of the cake and allow it to drip over the sides. 
  • Decorate with fresh raspberries. 





29 comments:

  1. I love layer4 cakes!" and this look sooo beautiful!!!

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  2. Oh yes Ros!!! I too love love love the combo of chocolate and raspberry and yours looks amazing! I love the colour of raspberry frosting too, it's so vivd! bet it tasted soo yum!

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    1. Thanks! It was extremely yummy and this combo is one of my favourites too :)

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  3. What a stunner of a cake! I love look of the soft pink against the dark brown, it's really striking. I've never tried mixing jam in icing before either but it's something I'd like to try out.

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    1. I was really impressed with the jam icing- definitely making it again.

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  4. Wow, another wonderful cake, look high it is. I love the colour contrast as well :-) x

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    1. It was a massive cake and I love the colours as well x

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  5. Looks amazing, and a lot like the original. I'm intereted in this icing - wouldn't have thought it would spread so well.

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    1. The icing was seriously amazing in taste and in looks.

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  6. Wow indeed!
    It looks fabulous, and knowing my other half's love of raspberries and the fact that chocolate is one of the few cakes he will eat, it would be an ideal Valentine treat!

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  7. I love how you've styled this cake. That perfect peachy pink with the dark chocolate. Gorgeous. A slice please.

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  8. That's a showstopper and a half - it's huuuuuuuge! Love it - it looks almost like a cartoon cake (in a good way);I think it's the colours and that it's larger than life

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  9. Wow I love the sound of this cake. I'm on a healthy eating kick though at the moment, but I imagining eating a slice right now! Yummy! #Bakeoftheweek

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    1. The fresh raspberries are the only healthy bit of this cake!

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  10. It looks incredible. I recently made some icing using marmalade so I suppose it's a similar idea - I'll have to try using jam next time.

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  11. What an amazing cake - I really love the idea of putting jam in the icing - and yours looks very impressive

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    1. Thank you and I loe the idea of jam in icing too

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  12. This cake looks amazing!! I love the ganache topping!! Gives the cake an extra special look to it!! Yummy!!

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    1. Thanks! I could have eaten all the ganache topping myself :)

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  13. Wow this is a beauty - the colour is amazing! I would have attempted this this afternoon but my internet shopping brought blueberries instead of raspberries! Grr! Thanks so much for joining in with #Bakeoftheweek x

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    1. I'm sure this would work well with blueberries as well... now that's an idea! x

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  14. What a creation! No wonder it took you a week to polish off! I love the combination of raspberries and chocolate and this look magnificent. Thanks for linking up.

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    1. Thanks! It really was a massive cake but it was so yummy I liked that we had lots of the cake to eat!

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  15. Stunning cake! Chocolate and raspberry is such a great combination, I'm surprised you don't see it more often. Love the contrast of the pink icing against the chocolatey cake. What a whopper!

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