I never ate cake until I was 8 or 9 years old. But I sure ate a lot of frosting! I was that kid at birthday parties who hopped up and down when the corner piece – the one with the profuse amount of frosting flourishes – was being passed out. I’d extract every last bit of sugary, fluffy stuff and leave the cake on the little paper plate. It wasn’t until the middle of my elementary school years that a frustrated parent of a friend finally urged me to try just a bite of the cake “just this once” that I discovered the treat I was missing.
Suffice it say I’ve eaten plenty of cake – and frosting – this week as we’ve made our way through this incredibly rich and decadent Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake. I did give away several pieces to friends, but this is definitely one time I did not mind having leftovers one iota. The cake itself was incredibly moist and chocolate-forward, if that’s a real term. It’s actually Ghirardelli’s Grand Fudge Cake and Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipes, along with a layer of raspberry preserves for the filling. Hopefully you can see the little chocolate shavings in the center of the little raspberry heart I made. One of these days I’ll take a real cake decorating class. 🙂
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake
From the Ghirardelli Grand Fudge Cake recipe on the side of the Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa container
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cup milk
Raspberry preserves (for filling)
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (see recipe below)
Raspberries (for garnish)
1 dark chocolate bar, peeled into shavings with a vegetable peeler (for garnish)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour two 9″ x 1-1/2″ round cake pans.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add vanilla and eggs one at a time, scraping bowl after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and milk (starting and ending with the flour mixture), while mixing on low speed. Continue to mix until smooth. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.
Cool cakes on wire racks completely. Remove one cake from its pan and place it, bottom side up, on serving plate. Spread a generous amount of raspberry preserves on top of the cake. Remove the other cake from its pan and place it, bottom side down, on top of the preserves. Frost the top and sides of the cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. Garnish with raspberries and dark chocolate shavings.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
From the Ghirardelli Buttercream Frosting recipe on the side of the Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa container
INGREDIENTS:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
In bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix confectioners’ sugar with cocoa. Blend sugar mixture with butter alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Beat until smooth. Blend in vanilla. Frosts tops and sides of two 9″ layers.
Oh, there are days when I miss real baked goods! This looks fabulous! (I’m going to try making gluten-free whoopie pies this weekend for Nate.)
Oh my Heavens! This looks incredible!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..COOKBOOKMANIA: Biscuit & Beef Casserole =-.
So pretty Kathy! This is an ambitious cake. I’m positive it tasted just as scrumptious as it looks. You’re my Valentine dessert hero this week.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..A Scratch & Sniff Valentine’s Day =-.
Its so pretty and fudgy!
.-= HoneyB´s last blog ..Poppy Seed Muffins =-.
I think your decorating is very cute!!
Holy fudge cake, batman! That looks tasty.
.-= Alexandra´s last blog ..White Chocolate Rice Krispy Hearts =-.
Wow what a cake, so moist and decadent! What a delightful treat, I think I am in love with this frosting 😉
.-= Lucy´s last blog ..Apple Crumble Cake =-.
I made this for my Valentine! 🙂 My old pans wouldn’t let go of the cake! 🙁 I was so sad, but I just cut off the nasty parts and pieced a big chunk back in. ;P Once it was frosted, you couldn’t tell that I had had any trouble with the cake. And that frosting…delicious! Such a great texture and flavor…I still have some leftover frosting in my fridge. I keep snacking on it. 😉 I used raspberry preserves and raspberries for garnish as well, but now I’m wondering if strawberry would be good instead…? I’ll try next time I want cake. 🙂 (which is all the time, but you know…)
Hi Julie – Glad you gave this cake a try! Next time you might try spraying your pans with baking spray (like Pam for Baking) – they came out really easily for me with this. And I’m sure strawberries would be a great addition – who doesn’t love strawberries and chocolate?!
I think the decoration for this cake was perfect!! I love the heart in the middle. The Hershey’s recipe is my go-to recipe for chocolate cake, but I may have to try out this one.
.-= Memoria´s last blog ..Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream =-.
Hershey’s recipe? I’m going to put that on my list to try!