Chocolate Strawberry Cake

We made this cake for Ava's birthday and it was really delish. It was very moist. The original called for a Swiss Meringue recipe, but I didn't have a double boiler and didn't want to deal with it, so I just made a strawberry jam buttercream. Also, I found a recipe for ganache with corn syrup in it, which made it drip SO much easier than the standard ganache.

Chocolate Strawberry Cake

Cake:

·        1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

·        1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

·        3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder spooned into measuring cup

·        1 1/2 tsp baking soda

·        1 tsp baking powder

·        1 tsp salt

·        1/4 cup vegetable oil

·        3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature

·        3/4 cup hot strong brewed coffee or hot water

·        2 large eggs

·        2 tsp vanilla

Strawberry Buttercream:

·        9-10 cups powdered sugar

·        2 cups butter, room temp

·        1 cup strawberry jam

Ganache:

·        1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (just use chips)

·        3 ½ oz heavy whipping cream

·        3 Tbsp light corn syrup

Instructions

Cake:

1.                 Preheat oven to 350F, grease three 6" round baking pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms with parchment.

2.       Place all dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.

3.       In a medium bowl whisk all wet ingredients (pour coffee/water in slowly as not to cook the eggs if very hot).

4.       Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium for 2-3 mins. Batter will be very thin.

5.       Pour evenly into prepared pans. I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.

6.       Bake until a cake tester comes out mostly clean. A total of 30-35mins.

7.       Cool 10minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, cut each layer in half horizontally to get 6 layers.

Strawberry Buttercream:

Use hand mixer to blend butter with about a cup of powdered sugar. Add jam. It may separate, just mix until fairly well blended and then add remaining powdered sugar. Add milk or cream, as needed, for preferred texture.

Ganache:

Do not make until cake is frosted and chilling. Place chopped chocolate cream into a microwave safe bowl and heat until nearly boiling. Add chocolate chips and let sit for about 10 minutes. Stir to combine. Once chocolate is melted, stir in corn syrup. Don’t let it cool too thickly before using it on cake.

Assembly:

Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving dish. Top with about 1/2 cup buttercream. Repeat with remaining layers. Frost and smooth the outside with a thin crumb coat. Chill for 20mins.

Frost the cake. Chill for 20 minutes again. Meanwhile, make the ganache. Using a small spoon, place dollops of ganache around the top edges of the cooled cake, allowing some to drip down. Do a test drip. If it is too hot, it will melt the frosting – let it cool a bit. If it is too cool, microwave for about 10 seconds and try again. Do not repeat too many times because ganache will separate if stirred too much. Fill in the top of the cake with more ganache and spread evenly with an offset spatula.

Top with decorative dollops of frosting around top edge (I used Ateco tip 847), whole strawberries (dipped in chocolate), and a pearl border at the base(using Wilton tip 12).

https://livforcake.com/chocolate-strawberry-cake/