Ginger-Raspberry Chocolate Cake
When Kuper and I were only a few years together, she expressed a craving for chocolate cake. Unfortunately it was nearly 10:30 p.m., so no stores were open. I said, “You’re kinda late. Nothing’s open … but I could make you a chocolate cake from scratch.” She was shocked: “You can make a cake without a box?”
This recipe is the result of that craving. A little after 1:00 a.m., we cut into this lusciously moist cake by romantic candlelight – and I could have walked on water.
Over the years, I have tweaked the recipe, adding the fresh raspberries and Big O Ginger Liqueur to the filling and the ganache, and it has evolved elegantly.
You will love this cake; it is moist and flavorful to the point of decadence – yet so easy to make. Make it for your loved ones and enjoy the praise!
– Bill Foster
Chocolate Cake
Ingredients for cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup HERSHEY’S cocoa
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (177º C).
- Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
- Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
- Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
- Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
- Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.
- Cover with plastic wrap and cool completely.
- Split each layer in two (yielding 4 layers).
- Whisk the Bonne Maman Raspberry Preserves with 3 tablespoon of Big O until smooth and nearly liquid.
- Spread between each of the layers. Frost with chocolate ganache icing.
Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients for ganache
- 8 oz (227 gm) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
- ¾ cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp (28 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp Big O Ginger Liqueur
Instructions
- Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside.
- Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil.
- Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes.
- Stir with a whisk until smooth.
- Add the liqueur and whisk in until fully incorporated.
To Cover a Torte or Cake
If covering a cake with ganache that is to be refrigerated, make sure the cake is cold before covering with the ganache. This will ensure that the ganache does not dull when stored in the refrigerator.
Brush any loose crumbs from the cake and place cake on a wire rack. Put the wire rack on a baking sheet. In this way if the ganache drips it will end up on the baking sheet, which makes clean up easier. Using a cake spatula, cover the sides and top of the cake with about 2 tablespoons ganache. This is called a crumb coat and seals in any cake crumbs so that your cake will have a smooth finish. Refrigerate cake for 5 minutes to set the crumb coat.
If you have any air bubbles or crumbs in your ganache, pour through a strainer.
To cover cake, pour the remaining ganache into the center of the cake. Working quickly, spread with a spatula, using big strokes to push the ganache over the sides of the cake, to create an even coating of ganache. If there are any bare spots on sides of cake, cover with leftover ganache. Strain leftover ganache to remove any crumbs. At this point the leftover ganache can be refrigerated until cold so you can make truffles. Or it can be whipped with an electric hand mixer or whisk and then piped.
Note: Truffles can also be made with Ganache. Truffles are just small balls of chocolate that can be rolled into cocoa powder, powdered sugar or toasted chopped nuts. You can use your hands to form the truffles, or else a melon baller or small spoon. Make sure the chocolate ganache is very firm before forming into balls. Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months.
