Chocolate Raspberry Cake 7.21 Unto the Breach

“How did you get roped into bringing the cake to your parents' party?” “I made the mistake of telling my mother how much Rory loves the chocolate raspberry one from Weston's.” “That's my favorite.”

Ingredients: For the cake:

• ⅓ cup sugar

• ⅔ cup brown sugar

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened

• 2 eggs

• ⅛ cup milk

• ¼ cup sour cream

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

• ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup cocoa powder

• 1 ½ tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

For the raspberry jam:

• 2 cups of raspberries

• 1 cup of granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp cornstarch

For the chocolate buttercream:

• ⅔ cup granulated sugar

• ⅓ cup water

• 3 egg whites

• ¼ tsp cream of tartar

• 5 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature

• ½ cup cocoa powder

• ½ tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. In a large bowl, cream together both sugars and butter until smooth.

3. Mix in the eggs, milk, sour cream, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

4. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

5. Fold in the graham cracker crumbs.

6. Grease two 7-inch cake tins and line with parchment paper. Split the cake batter between the cake tins.

7. Bake at 350 F for 20-23 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

8. Allow cakes to cool completely on a wire rack.

9. While the cakes cool, prepare the jam.

10. Place a small plate in the freezer to later test the thickness of your jam.

11. Add the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a medium-sized saucepan over high heat and stir gently to combine. Allow to reach a boil then lower the heat to medium.

12. Simmer the strawberry mixture over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

13. Pour the strawberry mixture into a blender or use an immersion blender if you have one. Blend until smooth.

14. Take the chilled plate out of the freezer and scoop a dollop of the jam onto the plate. Wait for 30 seconds, then tilt the plate at a 45 degree angle. The jam should slowly run down the plate if it’s ready. If the jam is runny and slides down quickly, put the jam back over medium heat and cook for an additional two minutes.

15. Stir in the cornstarch to thicken further.

16. Once the jam is thick enough, pour into a jar or other container. Allow to cool to room temperature then place into the fridge to cool completely.

17. prepare the buttercream by filling a large pot with water and placing over medium-high heat.

18. Once the water reaches a simmer, place a large mixing bowl over the steam. Add the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt.

19. Constantly whisk the egg mixture in the double boiler until it reaches 160 degrees F. Be careful that the mixing bowl doesn’t touch the water.

20. Transfer the mixing bowl to your mixer and whip the mixture until it’s doubled in size and soft peaks form. The bowl should also have cooled down to room temperature.

21. Stir in the cocoa powder until well-incorporated.

22. Mix in the butter one tablespoon at a time. A light and fluffy buttercream will begin to form.

23. Spread a thick layer of the buttercream over one of the cakes.

24. Transfer some of the buttercream to a piping bag and pipe a border of the buttercream around the edge of the cake to create a barrier.

25. Spread the jam across the top of the cake up to the edges of the buttercream barrier. You will have jam leftover.

26. Place the other cake over the top, carefully not to apply too much pressure so the jam doesn’t leak out.

27. To frost the cake, first spread a thin crumb coat of the buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Wrap the cake with plastic wrap and allow the crumb coat to set for 30 minutes in the fridge.

28. Remove the cake from the plastic wrap and fully frost the cake with the buttercream, using an offset spatula or knife.

29. Decorate with more piped buttercream and raspberries.

Rory’s favorite cake from Weston’s bakery, the chocolate raspberry one. Lorelai picked this up for Rory’s graduation party. I made a simple chocolate cake with a chocolate buttercream with a raspberry jam filling. This is the third raspberry dessert I made for the penultimate episode of a season which was honestly unintentional. For 4.21 Last Week Fights, This Week Tights I made the raspberry souffle at Friday Night Dinner and for 5.21 Blame Booze and Melville I made Emily’s chocolate fondue and decided to make it raspberry flavored as a nod to my other raspberry desserts for the second to last episodes.

I will be sharing my series finale dish on my Instagram, so be sure you’re following me there!

Happy cooking from the Hollow!

If you missed what I made last week, catch up here!