Chocolate and Berries Cake

I imagined this Chocolate and Berries Cake starting with two major ingredients: chocolate and berries. The cake contains black chocolate, the filling has white chocolate (which I colored in a beautiful caribbean green, for design’s sake, but it’s not a must) and there are generous layers of mixed berries in between. I took the design of this beautiful speckled cake from Carrie Sellman – The Cake Blog – because I loved it, because it’s spring time and because it’s (still) the period of colored eggs.

INGREDIENTS Chocolate and Berries Cake

► For the cake sponge:

• 150 g soft butter
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon of orange zest
• 200 ml whole milk
• 150 g black chocolate, grated
• 400 g cake flour
• 10 g baking powder

► For filling and frosting:

• 300 g mixed berries (frozen)
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 30 g cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 600 g white chocolate, finely chopped
• 200 ml heavy cream
• a pinch of coloring powder (or gel)

DIRECTIONS Chocolate and Berries Cake

► For the sponge cake, mix butter and sugar unteil creamy; then add the eggs one at a time, orange zest, chocolate and finally alternate dry ingredients (flour and baking powder, sifted) with milk. Pour the composition into a 7’’ (18 cm) pan and bake at 350Fº (175ºC) for 30-40 minutes.

► For the fruit filling, put fruits, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch into a sauce pan and cook slowly until it thickens – for about 10 minutes. Stir continuously because it tends to stick to the bottom. Then turn off the heat and let it cool.

► For the chocolate ganache, heat cream to the boiling point and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until smooth and let it cool into the fridge for several hours (or until next day), then mix it on low-medium speed for about 2-3 minutes; add the coloring powder (or gel) and homogenize.

ASSEMBLING THE Chocolate and Berries Cake

Cut the sponge cake into 2 or 3 horizontal layers. On a plate put the first layer of cake, a layer of frutis, then a layer of chocolate. Repeat until all the layers are used. Let the cake set in the fridge for about one hour then spread the remained ganache over the top and the side of the cake. The technique of speckling is explained in the link above.