Chocolate Layer Cake With Chocolate Cream And Raspberries

I have a little brother. And by little I mean 6’3″. His name is Sam and he has been one of my absolute favourite people since 1990. His birthday happens to be January 3rd. That’s three days after my dad’s birthday and nine days after Christmas, so I wanted to try and make it special. When I asked Sammo what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said something with chocolate but not too sweet. This meant my chocolate buttercream would have to wait. Fortunately, a little Pinterest-ing revealed the most delicious whipped cream I’ve ever name. I’m also quite proud to say that this is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made as well. Sam’s birthday cake ended up being a mix of  Beyond Frosting’s Hot Chocolate Whipped Cream, Butter Baked Good Chocolate Cake, and raspberries. I think he liked it. I hope you will too.

Chocolate Layer Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups Cup4Cup gluten free flour
• 2 teaspons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups hot coffee (any blend)
• 1 cup dark cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla

Direction:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Onto a large piece of parchment paper, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the hot coffee with the cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the cocoa and coffee and gently whisk to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until well combined. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pans.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes clean.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes then invert onto wire racks to cool completely. You may need to run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan if the cakes do not easily fall when first inverted.
7. Cut the tops off the top of the cakes (so they’ll stack properly) and use a large serrated knife to cut each cake in half on the horizontal, to create four layers.

Chocolate Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup hot chocolate mix

Directions:

1. If you’re feeling fancy, throw the metal bowl and whisk from your electric mixer into the freezer for 15 minutes. Pour the whipping cream into the mixing bowl and beat on high for 2 minutes. Add the hot chocolate mix and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Keep it refrigerated until go time.

Assembly

1. Put the first of your 4 layers on a plate or cake stand.
2. Divide the chocolate cream into 5 parts and stack your first two cake layers, alternating cake and cream.
3. Add half the raspberries on top of your second layer and cover with another portion of chocolate cream. 
4. Stack the third of your layers on top and follow with more cream, another layer, and the last of your chocolate cream.
5. Finish the with the last of your raspberries and if it happens to be someone’s birthday, add some candles or sparklers!