Strawberry Chocolate Layer Cake Food

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare the Cake Layers: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 3 (8-inch) round cake pans; set aside. Place chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl; pour boiling water over chocolate. Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Let stand until cooled to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
• Beat butter with a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add granulated sugar and brown sugar, beating until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating until just blended after each addition. Add vanilla and cooled melted chocolate, beating until blended. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating on low speed until just blended after each addition.
• Beat egg whites in a separate bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Gently fold into chocolate batter. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
• Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in centers of Cake Layers comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove Cake Layers from pans; let cool completely on wire racks, about 40 minutes.
• Prepare the Frosting: Beat butter with a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the chopped strawberries, beating on medium speed until mixture is creamy with streaks of strawberries throughout. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Gently fold in remaining strawberries.
• Place 1 Cake Layer on a platter; spread about 1/2 cup Frosting over top of layer. Repeat process with 1 additional Cake Layer and 1/2 cup Frosting. Top with remaining Cake Layer; spread remaining Frosting over top and sides of cake. Garnish with whole and halved strawberries.

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
• Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the egg, egg yolk, sour cream, oil, vanilla and 1/2 cup hot water and whisk until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Scatter the sliced strawberries on top and gently press them into the batter.
• Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 30 minutes.
• Run a knife around the edge of the cake and invert onto a wire rack. Flip the cake back over and let cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Once the cake has cooled, put the semisweet chocolate and the white chocolate in separate small microwave-safe bowls. Microwave the semisweet chocolate in 30-second intervals, stirring well with a rubber spatula between each, until completely melted and smooth, about 1 minute. Drizzle the cake with the melted chocolate. Repeat the melting and drizzling process with the white chocolate.
• Garnish the top edge of the cake with the whipped cream. Cut the remaining 5 whole strawberries in half lengthwise and place the pieces cut-side down around the edge of the cake.

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY MOUSSE CAKE

Steps:

• Lightly coat the insides of 3 (9 by 1 1/2-inch) cake pans with melted butter. Line each pan with parchment paper, then lightly coat the parchment with more melted butter. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Heat 1-inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place remaining butter and 8 ounces semisweet chocolate in the top half of the double boiler. Tightly cover the top with film wrap. Allow to heat for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat, stir until smooth, and hold at room temperature.
• Place the egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat on high until slightly thickened and lemon-colored, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on high for an additional 2 minutes.
• While the egg yolks are beating, whisk 4 egg whites in a large stainless steel bowl until stiff but not dry, about 3 to 4 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold the melted chocolate mixture into the beaten egg yolk mixture. Add a quarter of the beaten egg whites and stir to incorporate, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, spreading evenly, and bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in the pans for 15 minutes. (During baking, the surface of the cakes will form a crust; this crust will normally collapse when the cakes are removed from the oven.) Invert 1 of the cakes onto the bottom of a springform pan. Invert the other 2 cakes onto cake circles. Remove the parchment paper and refrigerate cakes for 30 minutes.
• To prepare the chocolate and strawberry mousse, reserve the 12 best-looking strawberries to decorate the top of the cake. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, puree 4 ounces of strawberries (12 medium-sized berries should yield 1/2 cup of puree). Set aside until needed. Refrigerate the remaining berries until needed (that includes the 12 berries for decoration) Heat 1-inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place 16 ounces semisweet chocolate, the white chocolate and the strawberry puree in the top half of the double boiler. Tightly cover the top with film wrap. Allow to heat for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Transfer to a stainless steel bowl, using a rubber spatula to remove all of the melted chocolate mixture. Keep at room temperature until needed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a balloon whip, whisk the 6 egg whites on high until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Continue to whisk on high while gradually adding 2 tablespoons sugar. Whisk until stiff but not dry, about 30 seconds. Set aside at room temperature until needed.
• Using a hand-held whisk, whip the heavy cream in a well-chilled stainless steel bowl until stiff. Fold a quarter of the egg whites into the melted chocolate mixture, then fold in the whipped cream. Now fold in the remaining egg whites. Set aside at room temperature until needed.
• Assemble the springform pan. Spread 1/2 cup of chocolate strawberry mousse onto the cake layer in the assembled springform pan. Arrange 1/2 the amount of reserved strawberries (not including the 12 for decoration), stem side down, into the mousse. The berries should be arranged in 2 rings: the first ring being 3/4-inch from the outside edge of the cake, and the second, inside ring, 3/4-inch away from the first. Distribute 3 cups of mousse over the berries, being careful to keep the berries in position. Holding the pan by the top rim, gently but firmly tap the bottom of the pan 2 to 3 times on your work surface (this will eliminate air pockets). Position a cake layer on top of the mousse, then repeat the process used on the first cake layer (1/2 cup mousse, remaining strawberries, and 3 more cups mousse). Top the mousse with the remaining cake layer and gently press into position. Refrigerate the cake for 2 hours (do not freeze).
• Refrigerate 1 cup of Semisweet Chocolate Ganache for at least 1 hour. Keep the remaining ganache at room temperature until needed.
• Remove the sides from the springform pan (do not remove the bottom of the pan from the cake; this will make it easier to handle later). Use a cake spatula to smooth and fill in the sides of the cake with 2 to 3 tablespoons of room-temperature ganache. Evenly spread the remaining amount of this ganache over the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for 1 hour.
• Transfer the chilled cup of ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a large-sized star tip. Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Pipe a circle of 12 evenly spaced stars along the outside edge of the top of the cake. Place a strawberry, stem side down, into each ganache star. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes.
• Cut the cake with a serrated slicer, heating the blade of the slicer under hot running water before making each slice. Allow the slices to come to room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.
• Heat the heavy cream, butter, and sugar in a 2 1/2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil. Place the chocolate in a stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Yield: 2 cups

STRAWBERRY CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease and dust four 9-inch round cake pans with cocoa.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar and salt.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cocoa. Stir together. Add the boiling water, allow the mixture to boil for 30 seconds and then turn off the heat. Pour over the flour mixture and stir lightly to cool.
• Combine the buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla and beaten eggs. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the butter/chocolate mixture. Divide the batter among the prepared cake pans and bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely on racks.
• For the filling: Halve the strawberries, and then combine them in a bowl with the granulated sugar and vanilla. Mix them all together. Leave them to macerate for 15 minutes, and then drain off the excess liquid.
• Whip together the powdered sugar and cream and set aside.
• Spread the top of each cake with hazelnut chocolate spread, some whipped cream and strawberries and layer the cakes. Don't assemble more than an hour before serving.

STRAWBERRY CHOCOLATE MOCHA LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350ºF.
• Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 2 (9-inch) round layers. Cool cakes in pans 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.
• Beat cream cheese, chocolate, sugar and coffee with mixer until blended.
• Place 1 cake layer on plate; spread with half the cream cheese frosting. Reserve 16 strawberry halves for garnish; gently press remaining strawberry halves into frosting layer on cake. Cover with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting onto top of cake. Garnish with reserved strawberries.