Deadliest of deadly chocolate cakes...

Yesterday was the double whammy of family events--my dad's birthday and my mother's graduation--and I was called upon to prepare a dark, dark, DARK chocolate cake for my mother. Counting on the tried and true classic chocolate cake on the back of the Hershey's box, I adjusted it slightly, resulting in a sinfully dark chocolate raspberry layer cake. Recipe follows:

Cake:
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar or other sweetener (I used half brown, half white sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup ricotta cheese or sour cream (optional)
2 cups flour
3/4 cup Dark Cocoa (i.e. Hershey's special dark or other dutch processed cocoa powder)
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups water
1 ounce dark semi-sweet baker's chocolate or chocolate chips.
Preheat oven to 350.
1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy and light, an off-white color.
2. Add eggs (one at a time) and vanilla and sour cream/ricotta if using (I used ricotta to great effect.) Beat until well combined.
3. In a small bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 batches, alternating with the water until well combined.
5. Add the chocolate (chopped or chips) to the batter and stir well to mix in.
6. Pour mixture into two greased 8 or 9 inch round baking pans. I also like to use parchment paper to line the pans, which helps me to move them when I am assembling the cake.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the cakes comes out clean. For more even layers, cut off the tops of each cake so that the top is completely flat.

Icing:

I used a simple ganache to ice this cake, which comes from Dorie Greenspan's fabulous book "Baking: From My Home to Yours." I cut up four ounces of baking chocolate (semi sweet) in a heat-proof bowl. Then I heated 1 cup of heavy cream in a saucepan and added it to the chocolate, stirring in a few tablespoons of butter as the glaze melted and settled. Unfortunately, my ganache came out a bit too liquid, so I ended up adding some cornstarch and cocoa to it to thicken it. But before that, I spread some of the liquidier glaze on the layers to soak into the cake and moisten it (probably not necessary as it was already quite moist.)

Glaze:

After soaking the inside parts of each layer with the more liquid form of the ganache, I spread a thick layer of raspberry jam (preheated for a few minutes in the microwave to loosen it up) on both layers and assembled the cake with the two trimmed tops facing one another. This left a piece of parchment paper on the top and bottom of the cake, which proved useful in transporting it from a cooling rack to a cake plate.

The total effect is wonderful--a deep chocolately icing, covering a very soft, delicate chocolate cake with a thin trace of raspberry/chocolate moistness in the center.

Who knew hershey's could do it so right??