Fantastic Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting and Spiced Coffee

Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting Recipe

• 3 squares,1 oz each, semisweet chocolate
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup plus 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 2 tbsp 10 X, confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Melt together chocolate, butter, and 1/3 cup heavy cream in the top of the double boiler over hot, not boiling, water, and stir until smooth. Cool completely.

Beat together the remaining 1 1/4 cups cream, and 10X sugar, and vanilla in medium size bowl just until soft peaks begin to form. Do not over beat the frosting, or it will become grainy.

Fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture until combined.

Then fold the chocolate mixture into the remaining whipped cream until combined.

**This rich frosting is good on practically anything.

Makes three cups

I found this wonderful YouTube video on frosting a layer cake. Believe it or not, not everyone in the world has even had the experience to ever frost a cake so, don't feel bad! This is for those of us that have never done this before. I mean, after all, you could have done a thousand things in your life time, and still, frosting a cake may not have been one of them. Kind of like me and mountain climbing! Anyway, this video will make this task seem a little less monumental. Just remember to take your time. It can be quite relaxing.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake Recipe

• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 8 eggs separated
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup seedless raspberry jam

**You will use the yolks and the whites of the eggs so put them in separate bowls.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease three 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with waxed paper circles. Dust sides with flour and tap out excess.

Stir together 3/4 cup of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder in a medium size bowl.

Beat together egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, and oil in a large bowl until they are thick and pale yellow. Then beat in the vanilla.

Beat egg whites with clean beaters in a medium size bowl until foamy. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, one tbsp at a time, beating until stiff, but not dry, peaks form.

Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over the egg yolk mixture, and add 1/3 of egg whites. Gently fold until combined. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and egg white mixture in two more additions. Divide batter equally among the three pans.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Loosen cakes from sides of pans with a thin knife. Immediately invert cakes onto wire racks to cool completely. Remove waxed paper.

Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread the top with half the raspberry jam. Spread about 2/3 cup of frosting over the jam. Stack second layer on top of the first. Spread with remaining jam and about 2/3 cup of frosting. Place third layer on top, and frost top and sides with remaining frosting and refrigerate.

Makes 12 servings.

Cake Batter!

Have you ever started mixing your cake batter, and realized that it just wasn't right? Parts of what is still dry ingredients are still clinging to the sides of the bowl for dear life, and even when you do get them completely covered, they refuse to break up!

When mixing flour and liquids into a cake batter, mix on a low speed until they are just getting mixed in there good, then stir in any flour that remains around the edge of the bowl by hand. Don't over beat your batter. Over beating can result in your cake having a tough texture.

This is a different twist on this recipe, and there is absolutely no mixer involved. Check it out!

Spiced Coffee Recipe

• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp packed brown sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• Peel of one orange
• 1/4 tsp whole Allspice
• 1 tbsp instant coffee

Heat water, brown sugar, cinnamon, orange peel, and Allspice to boiling. Strain and pour liquid over coffee in a heat proof container and stir until coffee is dissolved.

Makes six servings, about 1/3 each.

How to Store Cakes Properly

Please resist the urge to just stick your cake on a random plate and shove it into the refrigerator with no plastic wrap, no cover or protection whatsoever! You owe it to yourself and your family, or whoever you are living with to make an effort to do it right. The way you store your beautiful cake makes a big difference in the taste. That is, if you want it to taste as good as the first slice. Cake storage can be tricky, especially if the frosting is fragile and doesn't store as long.

Always cover cut surfaces with plastic wrap to keep them moist. Store in a covered cake keeper, or cover the cake with a large bowl over the cake plate.

Cakes with butter cream, cream cheese frostings or custard fillings should be stored in the refrigerator. Cakes with sugar frostings can be stored covered at room temperature for up to three days.

To freeze a cake with no frosting, lightly wrap individual layers in aluminum foil, freezer wrap, or a double layer of plastic wrap. You can freeze these for up to four months. Unfrosted layers will thaw at room temperature in one hour.