This decadent 3-layer cake tastes like a dark chocolate raspberry truffle. It’s perfect for special occasions or any time you are craving some chocolate cake!
Holy moly. I have been married for 10 years already. How on earth has 10 years passed so quickly? It seems like just yesterday when I got engaged and was planning my dream wedding. And yet here we are, ten years and one beautiful daughter later.
You all know that I am incredibly indecisive. I had no idea what to make for our 10 year anniversary, so I turned to my Kindergartener (ahhh!) for ideas. She told me to bake a chocolate caramel cake, but I have already baked 2 different kinds on the blog so I wanted to try something new. Being a chocoholic, I knew I needed to bake something chocolate-y so I started brainstorming.
I saw this gorgeous dark chocolate raspberry truffle cake and knew that I had found our anniversary cake. Yes, there are many steps to the cake, but each one is very easy to do and can be done a day or two ahead of time. I made the filling and ganache two days in advance and baked the cake and made the frosting one day ahead of assembly day. Let me be clear here – this cake is a labor of love, just like any marriage. In other words, don’t expect to make this entire cake in one hour.
I have to be honest with you all. This cake was NOT easy to assemble. My cake did not come out very easily from the pan and stuck pretty badly (granted, I didn’t grease my pan but I used Williams-Sonoma Gold Touch pans, which normally don’t require greasing). Also, the cake started crumbling and falling apart when I started stacking layers and adding frosting. I can’t even begin to tell you how much cake was lost in the process. I covered up a lot of the holes with extra frosting and piped a decorative border around the edge to hide some of the ugly spots. Can you tell?
Despite the difficulty assembling my cake, it tasted fantastic. The dark chocolate cake layer was reminiscent of my favorite Hershey’s perfectly chocolate cake, and the raspberry filling and ganache were decadent and rich. The frosting was out of this world too – I mean, with a full pound of chocolate in it, how could you go wrong?
Happy wedding anniversary to my loving husband of 10 years. Here’s to at least 100 more years of marriage!
Dark chocolate raspberry truffle cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 330 grams all-purpose flour
- 600 grams granulated sugar
- 135 grams cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups buttermilk at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups strong black coffee hot
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Raspberry filling
- 1 10-ounce bag frozen raspberries, thawed
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- splash of fresh lemon juice
Chocolate ganache
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 Tablespoons butter
Dark chocolate fudge frosting
- 6 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 6 Tablespoons boiling water
- 1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 pound dark chocolate melted and cooled
- Whipped cream and raspberries for decorating (optional)
Instructions
Bake the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease or line three 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, mix together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla until well blended.
- Pour the buttermilk mixture to the large bowl with the dry ingredients, and mix on medium speed for about two minutes. The batter will be thin. Evenly distribute the batter to the 3 prepared baking pans and bake in your preheated oven for 20 minutes. Rotate the pans and bake for an additional 13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes for about 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the filling
- While the cakes are baking and cooling, drain the thawed raspberries, reserving the liquid in a measuring cup. Add just enough water to the raspberry juice to yield 1 and 1/4 cups of liquid.
- Transfer the raspberry-water liquid to a medium saucepan and add the sugar and cornstarch. Heat over medium-high heat until the mixture begins to thicken. Continuously whisk to prevent lumps.
- Once the mixture thickens, remove the saucepan from the heat and add in the lemon juice. Whisk again until smooth and fold in the reserved raspberries. Transfer to a container, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the ganache
- Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. In a small, microwave-safe bowl, heat the cream in the microwave for about 90 seconds or until simmering. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes without stirring. Whisk the ganache vigorously until the mixture is smooth. Add in the butter, one tablespoon at a time until each has been fully incorporated into the mixture. Place the bowl in the refrigerator until it thickens and whisk it again until the ganache is smooth before using.
Make the frosting
- In a small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder and boiling water until the cocoa powder has dissolved. In the bowl of a standard electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, beat together the butter, confectioner's sugar, and salt on medium high speed until the butter is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Decrease the mixer to low and add the cooled, melted chocolate, beating until it is well combined. Add in the cocoa mixture until everything is well combined. If the frosting is too thin, place it in the fridge for a few minutes to thicken up.
Assemble the cake
- Level your cake so they are not domed on top. Place one cake layer, flat side down, on a cake pan or plate. Transfer about 1/2 cup of the ganache to a piping bag (or a plastic zip-top bag with a hole cut in the corner).
- Evenly spread about 1/2 cup of the ganache onto the first cake layer. Using the piping bag, pipe a circle around the edge of the cake so you are making a ganache "wall." Evenly spread about 1/3 cup of the raspberry filling inside the ganache "wall." Top with a cake layer and repeat. When placing the top cake layer, make sure the flat side (non-cut side) is on top.
- Once all the layers are stacked, frost the cake with a thin layer of the frosting to create a crumb coat. Place the cake in the refrigerator to let it firm up. Once the frosting has set, frost the cake with a thicker layer of frosting and decorate as desired.