Chocolate and raspberry is a classic with good reason. This moist, rich chocolate cake, layered with a chocolate mousse, raspberry buttercream, and fresh raspberries is topped off with a generous drizzle of fresh-raspberry sauce. Could there be anything more delicious?

I just love chocolate and raspberry, there’s something so alluring about the combination of the rich chocolate flavor and that sweet, fruity burst of raspberries. This cake flavor is one of my most popular — besides the incredible flavor, there’s something so elegant about the pink striped cake, studded with raspberries- it’s practically begging you to eat it.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

I use a classic, Hershey-style chocolate cake for this recipe- it’s one of the best!

Ingredients:

•  1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 ³⁄₄ cups all-purpose flour
• ³⁄₄ cup cocoa
• 1 ¹⁄₂teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ¹⁄₂teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
• 1cup milk
• ¹⁄₂ cup vegetable oil
• 2teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup  boiling water

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
2. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.
3. Beat the mixture at medium speed 2 minutes.
4. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
5. Pour into 3 greased and floured 6″ round pans. (or two 8 inch pans)
6. Bake 30-35 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then remove to wire racks and cool completely.

Chocolate Mousse Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3 sticks of butter
• 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate

This isn’t a classic chocolate mousse, because I designed this cake to be made as a layer cake, and mousse just doesn’t quite have the structural integrity needed to hold up. I created instead, a rich, mousse-like frosting. It has all the texture and lightness you’d expect from a mousse, but a little more of that structural integrity you get from buttercream.

1. We’re going to start by making a chocolate pudding.
2. Stir 1/4 cup of cornstarch with 1 1/2 cups of milk, 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and a 1/4 cup of sugar and heat in a pan until thickened. Stir in a tsp of vanilla whilst still warm and then cover and cool fully.
3. In a separate bowl, beat 3 sticks of salted butter until light and fluffy, add in 3 cups of powdered sugar and whip until aerated. Slowly add the cold pudding mixture a little at a time, whipping until incorporated.
4. Melt 4 oz, melted semi-sweet chocolate, allow to cool and then add to the frosting mixture.
5. Whip the frosting for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Chill fully and then re-whip before using.

Raspberry sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 punnets of raspberries
• 2 tbs water
• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

In a small saucepan, place 2 punnets of fresh raspberries, 2 tbs water and a 1/3 cup of sugar.  Boil until thickened, strain and refrigerate.

Raspberry Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup prepared raspberry sauce
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

In a bowl, whip 1 stick of salted butter until pale and fluffy, add 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of the prepared raspberry sauce. Beat for 2-3 minutes.

Assembly

Cut the domes off the top of cakes and torte each cake into two even layers.

Layer a layer of cake, followed by chocolate frosting, another layer of cake, followed by raspberry buttercream (fresh raspberries), add another layer of cake, chocolate frosting and finish with a final layer of cake. Crumb coat with chocolate frosting and refrigerate. Add a final layer of frosting. Pipe some swirls of raspberry buttercream on top and stud with fresh raspberries. Add a drizzle of the fresh raspberry sauce and serve.

Rebekah (Editor) xo