Consider this the fruity sequel to chocolate peanut butter cake. 🙂
Here’s What You’ll Love About This Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Cake crumb is fudge-like and moist, yet a little light and spongey, with extra texture from the mini chocolate chips Beautiful balance of rich flavors between the tart, juicy raspberry filling, sweet chocolate buttercream, and dark chocolate ganache Homemade raspberry filling uses frozen raspberries (very convenient!) and takes just 15 minutes to make (plus cooling) Enjoy extra-luxe raspberry flavor in the chocolate ganache topping by replacing some of the cream with raspberry liqueur (optional)
Just look at this dessert beauty:
4 Parts to This Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Make the Raspberry Filling First
The filling takes about 15 minutes to prep, then needs to cool, chill, and thicken completely. I recommend making it in advance and storing it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble the chocolate raspberry cake. I have a complete separate page dedicated to this wonderful raspberry cake filling if you want more ideas for its uses. Make this first, so it has plenty of time to chill and thicken:
Water & Cornstarch: Cornstarch is the magic thickener for this raspberry filling. You don’t need much, but you must dissolve it in a little water before using. This is called a “slurry”; see strawberry sauce as an example. Sugar: The raspberry filling should be a little tart, because you’ll pair it with sweet chocolate buttercream frosting. Lemon Juice: The filling needs something to balance the berry and sugar, and lemon juice provides that hint of freshness. Do not leave it out or the filling will taste pretty flat. Vanilla Extract: Add a little splash of vanilla extract to the filling once it comes off the heat. It tastes and smells incredible!
A Very Chocolate-y Chocolate Cake
Chocolate chips take the chocolate flavor to the next level, and, as I mentioned above, they also supply phenomenal texture. I use mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, but regular size are fine too. Toss them in a little flour before folding into the batter, to help keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
Why hot liquid? The hot liquid encourages the cocoa powder to bloom and dissolve.
Favorite Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Topping
Let it slightly cool in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to thicken up before spreading on the cake (which also needs some chill time after you apply the frosting crumb coat). You need enough frosting to spread on the bottom 2 cake layers before topping with the raspberry filling, and to pipe a “dam” around the edges of those layers to keep the raspberry filling in place, as well as for a thin crumb coat on the exterior of the cake. The recipe below, also found on my chocolate buttercream page, makes just the amount we need for everything. Is your chocolate buttercream lighter in color than you want? See my tried-and-true trick for darkening it above the chocolate buttercream recipe (heat some of it!). Do you enjoy chocolate mousse instead? Swap the buttercream for the chocolate mousse filling from my dark chocolate mousse cake. Typically, for making chocolate ganache, you need 8 ounces (weight) chocolate and 8 ounces (volume) heavy cream. (Increase/decrease each for more/less.) For topping this chocolate raspberry cake, I used 2 baking bars (that’s 8 ounces/226g) of bittersweet chocolate (Ghirardelli brand 60% cacao), 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy cream, and 1/4 cup (60ml) Chambord raspberry liqueur. So, I replaced some of the heavy cream with the raspberry liqueur. Again, you don’t have to do this. You can stick with 8 ounces chocolate + 8 ounces cream if desired.
How to Assemble & Decorate This Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Admittedly, I’m not a professional cake decorator, so with all of my layer cakes, I prefer simplicity. Let me share how I stack and decorate this 3-layer chocolate raspberry cake. Then, pipe a thick border of frosting around the edge of the cake to create a “dam” for the raspberry filling. Spread half of the raspberry filling (heaping 1/2 cup) on top of the frosted cake layer, staying within the buttercream border: Spoon about 1/2 cup of the chocolate buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip. I use Wilton 2A. (Or just use a disposable piping bag and cut about 3/4 inch (2cm) off the tip and use that without a piping tip.) Place the bottom cooled cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate. Using a large icing spatula or small offset spatula, evenly cover the top with about 1/4 cup of chocolate buttercream frosting (a thin layer). Repeat the same exact process with the second cake layer. Place the third cake layer on top, and then spread a thin layer (whatever you have left) of the chocolate buttercream on top and around the sides as a crumb coat. Run a bench scraper around the cake to smooth it out: Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours to set the crumb coat. During this time, I usually make and chill the ganache. Pour cooled chocolate ganache on top and spread all over the cake. Look how much this ganache thickens! It’s liquid at first, and 30 minutes in the refrigerator works magic. I use a large icing spatula to spread it all over the cake. Are you new to layer cakes? Don’t miss these complete lists of cake success tips and cake decorating tools. So many components! So many layers! I hope you enjoy. And if you do love these flavors together, be sure to try my raspberry chocolate chip layer cake and chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting next.
Recommended Tools
Stand Mixer or Handheld Mixer 3 9-inch Cake Pans (8-inch also work, but I recommend 9-inch for this cake) Parchment Paper Rounds Large Icing Spatula (for frosting and ganache) and Small Offset Spatula (for raspberry filling) Cake Turntable (optional, I don’t use one for this) Bench Scraper for crumb coat Piping Bag (disposable or reusable) & Wilton 2A for buttercream dam Cake Carrier for storing and transporting
