Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Mascarpone Filling and Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Recently we celebrated our nephew’s 20th birthday.  He’s a chocolate lover so I decided to make him a chocolate cake.  To dress it up, I added a raspberry spin to it.

I used my go to chocolate cake recipe which is in Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. The chocolate ganache frosting is my favorite because I don’t care so much for buttercream frostings. It’s also the easiest thing in the world to make. Just boil cream and pour over a bowl of chocolate chips or chopped choolate. Let sit, then add corn syrup and vanilla and stir. It is the frosting I used for my lovely Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Filling.

For a raspberry filling between the layers, instead of just jam, I mixed raspberry preserves with a bit of mascarpone to make it creamier but not too heavy.

To finish it, I decorated the top with fresh raspberries and dusted it with confectioner’s sugar right before serving.

It was delicious! The cake is not overly sweet and pairs well with the chocolate ganache.  The creamy hints of raspberry are also a great foil for the rich chocolate.

I will definitely be making this cake again for a special occasion. If you make it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Mascarpone Filling and Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Chocolate Cake adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything:

Non-stick spray

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

unsweetened cocoa powder (or flour if you don’t have any cocoa) for dusting

2 cups (9 oz)  all-purpose flour

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups milk

Raspberry Filling:

¾ cup raspberry preserves

¼ cup mascarpone at room temperature

Chocolate Ganache Frosting:

9 oz. chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons corn syrup

About a 1/2 cup of fresh raspberries

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

1.  Spray two 9 inch layer cake pans with non-stick spray and line bottoms with parchment paper.  Dust with unsweetened cocoa powder to coat sides and tap out excess.  Set aside.

2.  Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

3.  Melt the chocolate in a small saucepan or double boiler. If in a saucepan, cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally. If in a double boiler, cook over hot (not boiling) water, stirring occasionally. When the chocolate is just about melted, remove from the heat and continue to stir until mixture is smooth.

4.  Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

5.  Use an electric mixer to cream the butter until smooth, then gradually add the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, 3 or 4 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, then the vanilla, and finally the chocolate.  Add flour mixture to the chocolate mixture, a little at a time, alternating with the milk. Stir until smooth.

6. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks.  Fold them gently but thoroughly into the batter with a rubber spatula. Divide batter into the cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then invert onto a rack, peel off parchment, and cool completely.

7.  Make filling.  Mix together preserves and mascarpone and set aside until ready to use.

8. Make frosting.   Place chocolate in a heat proof bowl.  Bring cream just to boiling.  Pour over chocolate and let sit 5 minutes.  Add vanilla and corn syrup and gently stir until completely incorporated and smooth.

9.  Assemble cake.  Cut the cakes in half to make four layers.  Spread 1/3 of the raspberry mixture on one layer – be sure leave a margin around the outside because when you top with the cake layer, the preserves will spread.  Top with the second layer and spread another 1/3 of raspberry mixture.  Repeat with third layer, and top with fourth layer.

10.  Do a light top frost with  ganache while it is still pourable.  Chill cake and bowl of ganache  in fridge for abou 30 minutes.  Stir ganache after 15 minutes.  Frost top of cake. Put ganache in bowl back into fridge and stir every 15 minutes or so for another 30 minutes or so.  Frost sides of cake later when ganache is thicker.  (I waited a whole day to frost the rest of cake sides.)

11.  Decorate with fresh raspberries and dust with confectioner’s sugar.
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