Dark Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling

Dark Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling

I am learning to bake. Part of my process is starting with boxed cake mixes and then adding ingredients. Eventually. I will bake from scratch, but until then….

This is DELICIOUS. Trust me about the coffee. Even if you don’t like coffee, use it. You cannot taste the coffee, but it does enhance the flavor of the cake. You will have leftover frosting if you follow these directions. I dressed up the frosting, so that it would taste homemade.

A problem many people have when baking a cake is that they do not allow the cake to cool completely. I make my cakes the night before, cool them, wrap them in plastic wrap and then freeze them. I frost them frozen. It keeps them moist and stops the crumbs from smearing into the frosting.

Serves: This makes 2 -eight-inch cake layers

Time:   Active time for cake 10 minutes; Cook: 30-35 Minutes: Cooling time: varies

Active time for making frosting 5 minutes; frosting cake 20 minutes-cake in a few hours

Hardware: Measuring spoons and cups, 2 mixing bowls, a small bowl, hand mixer, rubber spatulas, a large spoon, 2- 8-inch cake pans, 1 small sauce pan, 2 plastic storage bags (Ziploc), a cake round or plate, a cooling rack, an offset spatula

Ingredients:

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix (15.25 ounces) I used Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate
• 1 package INSTANT pudding (3.6 ounces) I used Godiva Dark Chocolate
• 2 tablespoons freeze dried coffee
• 1 stick melted butter (½ cup)
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• ⅓ cup sour cream
• 4 eggs
• Flour/butter for the pans

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• 1 cup no seed, all fruit raspberry preserves -I used Bonne Maman
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ½ cup very cold water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

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• 2 sticks softened butter (1 cup)
• 2.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 16 ounces of your favorite chocolate frosting
• Fresh raspberries (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter and flour the cake pans. Set aside. Put 2 sticks of butter into one of the mixing bowls to soften. Set that aside. Place the other stick of butter into the second mixing bowl and melt in the microwave.
2. Mix the milk, sour cream, and eggs into the melted butter until combined.
3. Mix in the pudding and coffee. Beat on medium for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl.
4. Mix in the cake mix on low speed for about 30 second and high speed for about 2 minutes, pausing to scrape down the bowl.
5. Pour the batter the into prepared pans and bake it, on the middle rack, for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
6. Cool the cakes in the pans for about 10 minutes then cool them completely on the rack before frosting.
7. Mix the preserves and sugar together in the sauce pan over low heat. Allow it to come to a low boil. Mix the very cold water and cornstarch together and stir until the cornstarch dissolves. Stir the cornstarch-y water into the preserves. Stir. Boil for a minute or two remove from the heat and allow to cool. Set aside.
8. Mix the frosting, softened butter, vanilla and milk together. Mix on low until blended. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Chocolate Fence

9.   To frost the cake, place the raspberry filling into one of the plastic bags. Place about ⅓ cup of the frosting into the other. Snip a small corner from the chocolate filled bag. Place one of the cake layers onto the cake round. Then use the plastic bag to make a ½ inch tall ‘fence’ around the edge of the cake (see the picture.)   Then snip the edge of one corner of the bag holding the preserves. Fill in the ‘fenced in area.’ This holds in the filling and stops the top layer from sliding around. Spread around evenly, without going over the ‘fence.’ Carefully place the other layer on top. Then use the offset spatula to frost as usual. Garnish each slice with raspberries before serving.