chocolate raspberry cake

This Chocolate Raspberry Cake has six glorious layers of vanilla cake with raspberry sauce and a rich dark chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

yellow/white cake mix

all-purpose flour

sugar

tsp salt

eggs

water

vegetable oil

sour cream

tsp vanilla extract

raspberries

Tbsps sugar

Dutch-processed cocoa powder (dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water)

unsalted butter (room temperature)

sea salt

chocolate

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Butter and flour three 6" cake rounds (I use Homemade Cake Release), line with parchment. Wrap cake rounds with damp Bake Even strips (optional).

Combine all dry ingredients and whisk together. Add wet ingredients and mix until combined. I use my KitchenAid on low for 2 minutes but you can also do this by hand.

Divide the batter between the pans and bake for approximately 40-50 minutes. Or until a cake tester comes out mostly clean.

Cool in pans on wire rack for 10mins, then turn cakes out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Almost Scratch Cake:

Place frozen raspberries and sugar into a small saucepan and cook over med-high, stirring often, until raspberries are broken down and syrupy (crush with a wooden spoon as you stir).

Raspberry Sauce:

Beat butter, sugar, and sea salt until pale and fluffy. Gradually add in melted chocolate. Gradually add in cocoa mixture. Whip until well combined.

Let stand 1-2 hours to firm up.

Chocolate Frosting:

Cut each cake layer in half horizontally. Transfer one layer to serving dish or cake stand. Spread 1/3 of the raspberry sauce over top. Place another cake layer on top and spread approx. 1 cup of the frosting over top. Alternate layers of cake with raspberry sauce and frosting, but leave the very top uncovered. Chill to set for 30mins before frosting outside of cake. Work quickly as the frosting will harden on the cooled cake.

Watch this video to see how to do the rustic swirly frosting.

Assembly:

Enjoy layers of moist dark chocolate cake, sweet creamy chocolate buttercream, and homemade raspberry filling, all covered with a luxurious chocolate raspberry ganache. 

cornstarch

(67 grams) granulated sugar

lemon juice

vanilla extract

(62 grams) unsweetened natural cocoa powder* (see Note)

baking soda

baking powder

salt

espresso powder (optional)*

(120 milliliters) vegetable oil coconut oil

eggs,

(180 grams) full-fat sour cream,

(120 milliliters) buttermilk, at room temperature*

(120 milliliters) hot water

(170 grams) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (tossed in 1 Tablespoon flour)

(230 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

(420 grams) confectioners’ sugar

(41 grams) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder

Tablespoons (45 milliliters) heavy cream or milk

(180 milliliters) heavy cream cream

(60 milliliters) raspberry liqueur,

raspberries & fresh mint

Make the raspberry filling: 

Whisk the cornstarch and water together until all the cornstarch has dissolved. (I just use a fork to mix—very easy.) Combine cornstarch mixture, raspberries (no need to thaw if using frozen), granulated sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Using a silicone spatula, stir the mixture, mashing the raspberries as they begin to thaw and soften. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 5 full minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

Allow the raspberry filling to cool at room temperature for 10–15 minutes, then transfer it to a bowl or container and place it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 1 week (the longer, the better). No need to cover it, but if refrigerating for longer than 4 hours, cover tightly. It will continue to thicken up as it chills. Raspberry filling must be completely chilled before using in your cake. If freezing, see Note below for instructions.

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it&#8217;s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video &amp; post.)

Make the cake: 

Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder (if using) together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or you can use a whisk), mix the oil, eggs, and sour cream together on medium-high speed until combined. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and beat until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot water/coffee, and whisk or beat on low speed until the batter is completely combined. Fold in the flour-coated chocolate chips. Batter is thin and you may see some air bubbles on the surface—that&#8217;s normal. You should have about 6–6.5 cups of batter, or around 1400g. 

Divide batter evenly between 3 pans. Bake for approximately 24–26 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the cakes from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely in the pan. The cakes may slightly sink in the middle as they cool—that&#8217;s expected.

As the cakes cool, make the chocolate buttercream

With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners&#8217; sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Taste. Beat in another pinch of salt if desired. (Do you want your buttercream darker in color? I have a trick detailed on the full chocolate buttercream page.) You&#8217;re going to use this buttercream for a thin layer under the raspberry filling, a piped &#8220;dam&#8221; around 2 of the cake layers, and for the crumb coat. Makes about 2.5 cups total.

Begin layering with raspberry filling and buttercream

Place 1 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). 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 off the tip and use that without a piping tip.) Pipe a thick border of buttercream around the edge of the frosted cake layer, using about half of the buttercream in the piping bag. Then, using a small offset spatula, spread half of the thickened and chilled raspberry filling (about 1/2 cup) inside the buttercream border. Place second cake layer on top and then repeat the filling process: spread frosting, pipe border with remaining frosting in piping bag (if you ran out, just use more from the big bowl of buttercream), then spread on remaining raspberry filling. Top with third cake layer.

Apply crumb coat

Using the remaining chocolate buttercream, spread a thin layer of buttercream on the top and around the sides as a crumb coat. Run a bench scraper around the cake to smooth out crumb coat. Chill uncovered in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours to set the crumb coat.

As your crumb coat sets, make and chill the chocolate ganache

Place finely chopped chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream and raspberry liqueur, if using, in a small saucepan over medium heat until it begins to gently simmer. (Do not let it come to a rapid boil—that’s too hot!) Pour over chocolate, then let it sit for 2–3 minutes to gently soften the chocolate. With a metal spoon or small rubber spatula, very slowly stir until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Ganache is thin. The finer you chopped the chocolate, the quicker it will melt with the cream. If it’s not melting, do not microwave it. If needed, see Troubleshooting Chocolate Ganache. Once ganache mixture is smooth, let it chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator to thicken before spreading on chilled crumb-coated cake.

Pour/spoon thickened ganache on chilled cake, and spread all over cake with an icing spatula. Garnish with fresh raspberries, if desired. Serve cake immediately or chill, uncovered, for up to 4–6 hours before serving. Cake can be served at room temperature or chilled.

Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days. I like using a cake carrier for storing and transporting.

This is the very first cake I have ever made from scratch.  I’m no expert (obviously) but I thought it was an ambitiously complicated recipe.  To show my complete insanity, I made it on easter sunday when I was making everything else!  Drum roll…..it was AMAZING!!!  It was moist, the raspberry filling was fabulous, the frosting and the shiny top layer…yum!  
I didnt have a piping bag so I used a food saver bag with a notch cut out.  That worked fine.  The only error was cutting the top of the bottom layer so that it would be flat for the second layer.  I ended up with uneven layers.  Now that I’m a hot-shot cake baker  i think I will make more.  For my future escapades, what is the best way to get flat and even layers?

My mom makes a cake just like this every year for my birthday only difference we do is with the icing. We make a chocolate whipped cream and ice it with that. Just preference. Makes it much lighter and not as rich. Just what I like though. One of the best combos, raspberry and chocolate! Gimme,  gimme!

I only made the cake, half the recipe, with a different topping.
The cake was delicious and incredibly moist. 
If you only have dutch processed cocoa, go ahead and use it. It's true that baking soda requires an acidity environment to act as a leaving agent, but the sour cream and buttermilk, combined with the baking powder already present in the recipe,  are enough for a great rise.

Top 2 chocolate raspberry cake recipes from across the web

The most viewed chocolate raspberry cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Top 2 chocolate raspberry cake recipes from across the web

The most viewed chocolate raspberry cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

The most viewed chocolate raspberry cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine