Sweet Tooth Tuesday: Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cake

My brother and sister-in-law invited us over for dinner to celebrate her birthday.  I asked if they wanted us to bring anything and they said to bring a dessert =)  (they love my desserts!)  I had this recipe that I have been wanting to try but I knew if I made it that I would end up eating the whole thing myself so I figured this would be the perfect time to make it.  I love mixing chocolate with fruits.  Especially chocolate and orange and chocolate and raspberries.  I knew this cake would be delish!  The part I love the best is that it wasn't from a cake mix and the cake turned out so moist, even after I had to let it sit out on my counter (covered of course) overnight before I could get a chance to frost it.  If you need a good dessert to impress, give this a whirl!!! (and you could substitute the raspberries for strawberries too!)

Cake:
1 1/4 c. cocoa powder
2 1/2 c. flour
2 1/2 c. sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs + 1 yolk
1 1/4 c. water
1 1/4 c. buttermilk (or 1 c. + 2 tbsp milk, + 2 tbsp vinegar)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 2 9-inch round cake pans with non stick spray and flour (or use the non-stick spray that has flour mixed in with it....that stuff is AMAZING!!!!)  Combine wet ingredients in a bowl.  Gradually mix in cocoa.  Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients.  Pour evenly into the pans and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Loosen teh edges of the cake and let them cool in the pans.  Once cool, remove from pans.  Place one cake on the dish that you are going to be serving it on.  Once it is completely cool, then spread your raspberry filling on the cake.  Then place the other cake on top and then frost with your frosting.


Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. cocoa powder
3 c. powder sugar 1 tsp. vanilla

Place cream cheese in your mixer and let it mix until it is light and fluffy and absolutely no lumps remain.  then mix in the butter, vanilla, and cocoa powder.  Gradually mix in powder sugar until you reach the desired consistency to be able to spread on the cake.   When I did mine, I may not have used all 3 cups, but I didn't want it overly sweet so you can do it to taste as well.

Raspberry filling:
1 1/2 c. raspberries ( I used a 12 oz. bag frozen raspberries)
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. sugar

In a saucepan, simmer raspberries until they break down and the juice is released.  Mix in lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch.  Let it simmer until it thickens.  You want it to be about the thickness of a jam.  (or for a shortcut method you could easily use raspberry preserves for the filling instead of making your own)  Allow it too cool a bit, then spread on your cake. I had leftover raspberry filling so I put some dollops on top and the melted some chocolate chips and drizzled it across the top.  If you have some fresh raspberries, that would be yummy as a garnish as well.

(I know its not the prettiest picture, but I wanted to show how it was layered)

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties: