Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Buttercream Cake

 

A decidedly grown up cake. Raspberry buttercream layered between sticky, sweet chocolate cake, and covered in a deep dark chocolate ganache? The perfect cake to say Happy Birthday to my lovely Dad.

On a rare break from watching the Olympics, yes I am engrossed, and spend every moment I can soaking up all the action.. I baked this delicious cake for the main man in my life. Daddy! He adores a big bowl of fresh raspberries and cream when he comes home from work, so I knew his cake needed to have raspberries in it somehow. Paired with his love of chocolate, and I knew it called for only one thing. This yummy recipe from Sweetapolita. I played about with it a little, especially the buttercream, but I hope I did it justice. She was so kind to reply to me on Twitter when I tweeted her a photo of it! I was thrilled, and it definitely made my day.

This is by no means a perfectly executed cake, it’s a little rough around the edges I know. But I feel that’s part of its charm, it’s approachable, and it certainly makes up for it when you take a huge bite! Yum!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

August have arrived, and that means only one thing.. the holidays are half way over and the new term of September looms even closer. Right now I don’t really want to dwell on that thought as I am perfectly happy where I am right now, and loving every minute of the time I have to relax and enjoy summer. At the beginning of every holidays, I always draw up an imaginary list of all the things I would like to have done, or feel I should have completed by the end of summer. Things I will look back on and remember, make it stand out, make me feel it has been a memorable summer. I never manage to complete that imaginary list, and yet I never feel that the summer has been wasted.Yes it may have flown by, far too fast for my liking, but so far I still have very fond memories of all my summers. Perhaps the need to feel I have achieved something, or done something out of the ordinary overrides the simple need to relax, unwind and enjoy a peaceful vacation.

We all sat together as a family, (a rare occasion) and enjoyed this 3 layer delight. Dad’s first exclamation of “Mmmm!” was enough to convince me it was all worth it and it had been a success. The sharpness of the raspberry takes away a little of the ultra sweetness of the buttercream, whilst the rich dark chocolate on top makes an amazing partner for the fresh raspberries and moist chocolate cake. An all-round crowd pleaser.

I wouldn’t want to take any credit for this delicious recipe, and to be perfectly honest when it comes to the buttercream I can’t remember the exact recipe I must have used in the end, as I played around with the flavour and texture for so long! (I have began to bake by instinct now I reckon) and also, I forgot to add the vanilla extract into the cake, oops! So if you would like to make your own Chocolate and Raspberry masterpiece, then please head on over to Sweetapolita, and give it a try:

Dark Chocolate Cake

Swiss Meringue Buttercream  

(though as I mentioned, I didn’t like the texture of how mine turned out, and added icing sugar and whipped until it was more like regular buttercream.)

Dark Chocolate Ganache 

This turned out PERFECT! Give it try!

Once again, thank you so much for stopping by Snazzy Biscuits, your continued comments and support means the world, and I can’t wait to share more yummy bakes with you!

Amy x