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Favorite Moist Chocolate Cake

Cheri
67 minutes
12-16 servings
Intermediate

When I was in high school my sister-in-law and I decided to make a cake as a surprise for my mom’s birthday. We successful snuck her trusty mixer out of the house to the church next door, giddy with excitement that we were going to pull off such a wonderful surprise. We got to work, with me manning the mixer and feeling ultra important. I was doing so well and everything was going swimmingly. I left the mixer for a moment and continued on my merry way to complete the other important tasks in front of me. Suddenly we were startled by a grinding, gargling sound as the mixer gasped for air. We rushed to it’s aid and discovered that I had left the spatula in the bowl and it had gotten tangled in the beaters. We tried to free it from it’s agonizing pain, but it was too late. The motor had burnt out. It had died a painful and tragic death. We hung our heads and carried the lifeless mixer back to the house. Happy Birthday Mom! Surprise? Thankfully I have an understanding Mom who likes to laugh in the face of adversity (in this case probably to keep from crying). Since then I have become a much better cook and hopefully a little wiser. I have made many a cake with no ones mixer being the worse for it. Including this one. I actually like to mix this cake by hand because it is so easy to whip up and only dirties one bowl. I have made this cake on numerous occasions and it is a definite favourite. It is chocolatey, moist, and delicious. It goes with numerous amounts of fillings and variations. The cake pictured above was for my son’s 1st birthday back in June. I froze it, along with it’s filling of Strawberry Cheesecake Mousse and topped it with Ganache. Which made for an icy delight. The one below is simply filled with a Coconut Creme Filling. But, this is one cake that I can eat completely on it’s own with no added icings or fillings. Not too sweet and just perfect!

Total Steps

13

Ingredients

18

Tools Needed

14

Ingredients

  • 2 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup oil
  • 1 cup brewed coffee
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 count eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 package cream cheese (4oz)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup pureed strawberries
  • 3/4 cup cold heavy cream
  • 9 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • fresh strawberries(optional)

Instructions

1

Step 1

2 min

Sift together dry cake ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, baking cocoa, sugar) into a large bowl. Add oil, brewed coffee, and milk. Whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla, then whisk until well incorporated.

2

Step 2

25-30 min

Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans. Pour the cake batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake at 325ºF until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

3

Step 3

10 min

Let the cakes cool in the pans before removing them to cool completely on a wire rack.

4

Step 4

For the Strawberry Mousse: In a bowl, mix cream cheese and sugar until completely smooth. Mix in the pureed strawberries.

5

Step 5

In a separate bowl, whip the cold heavy cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the strawberry cream cheese mixture.

6

Step 6

until solid

Line a 9-inch round pan (the same size used for the cakes) with plastic wrap and pour the mousse inside. Freeze until solid.

7

Step 7

For the Ganache: Bring heavy cream to a boil over medium heat in a saucepan.

8

Step 8

Pour the hot cream over the chopped bittersweet chocolate. Let sit for a moment, then stir until smooth.

9

Step 9

Let the ganache cool to room temperature.

10

Step 10

To Assemble: Remove the frozen mousse from the freezer and unwrap.

11

Step 11

Place one cake layer on a serving platter. Position the frozen mousse in the center and top with the remaining cake layer.

12

Step 12

30 min

Allow the assembled cake to thaw.

13

Step 13

Meanwhile, drizzle the cake with ganache and garnish with fresh strawberries.

Tools & Equipment

Sifter
Mixing bowl
Whisk
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
9-inch round cake pans
Oven
Toothpicks
Plastic wrap
Freezer
Saucepan
Stovetop burner
Spatula
Serving platter

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