Chocolate Raspberry Cake (Printer-Friendly Version)

# What You'll Need:

→ For the Chocolate Cake

01 - 2 ½ cups All-purpose flour
02 - 1 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
03 - 1 ½ teaspoon Baking soda
04 - 2 ½ teaspoon Baking powder
05 - 1 teaspoon Salt
06 - 1 ¾ cup White granulated sugar
07 - 1 cup Buttermilk, room temperature
08 - 1 cup Oil
09 - 4 Large eggs, room temperature
10 - 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
11 - 1 cup Hot water, steaming

→ For the Raspberry Puree

12 - 1 cup Raspberries (fresh or frozen)
13 - ¼ cup Water

→ For the Raspberry Frosting

14 - 2 cups Unsalted butter, room temperature
15 - 2 cups Powdered sugar, sifted
16 - ¼ cup Grounded freeze-dried raspberries (1 oz.)
17 - ¼ cup Reduced raspberry puree
18 - 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
19 - ½ teaspoon Salt

→ For the Chocolate Ganache

20 - 1 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
21 - ¾ cup Heavy cream

→ For Decoration

22 - Fresh raspberries

# Let's Cook!:

01 - Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray three 8-inch cake pans with baking nonstick spray. Line the bottoms with 8-inch parchment paper circles and spray again. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside. In a small pan on the stove over high heat, heat the water until steaming. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Then, slowly mix in the hot water. Tip: Go slow so you don't overheat the eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined. Pour evenly between the 3 cake pans. Bake for 25-28 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let it sit for 10 minutes in the hot pans before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely before decorating.
02 - Using a blender, blend the raspberries and water into a puree. (If using frozen berries, thaw them first.) Pour the raspberries through a mesh sieve to separate the seeds out. Toss the seeds. Pour the raspberry puree into a small frying pan. Over medium heat, heat the raspberries until it thickens and deepens in color. This takes 3-5 minutes. It will equal out to ¼ cup total. Let it cool completely before using.
03 - In a large bowl, sift the powdered sugar. Add in the grounded freeze-dried raspberries. Using a mixer, beat the butter on high speed for 3 minutes. The butter will be super fluffy. Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Finish with the rest of the powdered sugar and mix on low. Scrape the bowl and mix again to make sure it is all combined. Add in the raspberry puree, vanilla, and salt. Mix on low until combined, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Halfway through, make sure to scrape the bowl.
04 - Start this after you frost the cake. In a small bowl, add the chocolate chips. Heat the heavy cream in a small pan on medium-low heat until steaming. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips. Let it sit for 2 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to mix until smooth and melted. If any chocolate chunks remain, heat in the microwave for 15-second intervals until melted.
05 - Use a serrated knife to cut the domes off the cakes. Place the 1st cake layer down and spread 1 cup of frosting over the cake. Repeat with the second cake layer. Place the last layer of cake with the bottom of the cake facing up. Frost the cake in a very light layer of frosting. Freeze for 15 minutes to set the frosting. Frost the rest of the cake. I did another light layer of frosting to give it the semi-naked cake look. Freeze for 10 minutes, while it is freezing start the chocolate ganache. Pour half of the chocolate into a piping bag. Pipe the drips on the cake. Start at the very edge at the top so it drips down naturally. Top the cake with the rest of the ganache. Freeze for 10 minutes before decorating with fresh raspberries.

# Cook's Notes:

01 - Flour: Make sure flour is spooned and leveled or use a kitchen scale. Compacted flour can dry out the cake.
02 - High altitude baking: Add an extra 2 tablespoons of flour.
03 - Pull out dairy ingredients 2 hours before baking.

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