Who could resist the decadence of this chocolate raspberry cake recipe, as delicious as a slice of my chocolate strawberry cake. This dessert is a delightful blend of rich chocolate-flavored cake filled with a fruity, tangy raspberry cake filling and dark chocolate ganache
Just as tasty and delicious as my chocolate raspberry cupcakes, this chocolate raspberry cake is perfect for satisfying all your chocolate cravings.
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Why we love this recipe
Imagine a heavenly chocolate raspberry cake where the rich cocoa flavor of the chocolate cake perfectly complements the sweet-tart raspberry filling. It's a delightful combination of flavors that blend beautifully.
This perfect chocolate raspberry cake features soft and moist buttermilk dark chocolate cake layers generously filled with a sweet-tart homemade raspberry filling and decadently covered with a rich dark chocolate ganache.
It's the ultimate chocolate and raspberry cake, perfect for special occasions like birthdays, baby showers, and other occasions when you want to enjoy a slice of chocolate cake.
Craving for more Chocolate recipes? Give these a try: Chocolate birthday cake, triple chocolate brownies, Chocolate ganache cheesecake, Whipped Chocolate ganache and Chocolate cake pops.
Ingredients Notes
Information on ingredients and possible substitutions (quantities in the recipe card at the end of the page).
Chocolate cake
- Oil: Neutral vegetable oil such as sunflower oil or grapeseed oil.
- Sugar: Extra-fine white granulated sugar, if possible. You can also make a blend of white sugar and flavored sugar such as cane sugar or dark brown sugar.
- Eggs: Medium to large eggs, which must be at room temperature. Take them out in advance, or let them rest in a bowl of hot water.
- Flour: Cake flour if possible, or even all-purpose flour.
- Cocoa: Unsweetened dark cocoa powder only.
- Yeast: A mixture of baking powder and baking soda. If you don't have baking soda, use a whole sachet of baking powder.
- Milk: Buttermilk if possible, or see recipe notes for substitutions with yogurt or semi-skimmed milk.
- Coffee: Your cake won't taste at all like coffee, it's just to enhance the chocolate flavor. You can use espresso, instant or filter coffee, leave to cool or use water directly.
- Vanilla and salt: pure vanilla extract if possible, or a sachet of vanilla sugar and table salt.
You'll also love: 10 best cake decorating tools for beginners.
Raspberry filling
- Raspberry: Fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries.
- Sugar: A small amount of white sugar just to balance the tart flavor.
- Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice for preservation.
Chocolate ganache frosting
- Chocolate: 54% or 62% semi-sweet chocolate chips or a use baking chocolate bar.
- Heavy Cream: only full-fat heavy cream with 30% or heavy whipping cream with 35% fat content.
⚠️ You will find quantities and instructions in the recipe card at the end of the page.
Chocolate cake with raspberry filling instructions
Chocolate cake batter
- Preheat oven to 329°F/ 165°C and line 3 round cake pans measuring 6 inches 15 cm in diameter with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, mix and sift together the dry ingredients, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another bowl, mix the buttermilk with the cooled black coffee.
- In a large bowl or in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, combine the oil and sugar with an electric mixer, then add the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Using a spatula, add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk and coffee mixture until you obtain a smooth, slightly liquid cake batter.
- Divide the mixture into 3 and place in the 3 prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until puffed.
- Allow cakes to cool before unmolding and cooling completely on a cake rack.
Tip: Check baking by plunging the blade of a knife or a toothpick into the center of the cake at the end of the baking time. It should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, otherwise extend the baking time by a few minutes.
Raspberry filling
- Place fresh or frozen raspberries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat for about 10 minutes until jam-like in texture.
- Allow the raspberry compote to cool completely in the fridge before using.
Tip: The raspberry mixture filling should have a thick texture; if it is too runny, continue cooking to evaporate the liquid. You can replace it with a simple homemade raspberry jam.
Chooclate ganache
- Break or finely chop the chocolate and place in a large bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat just until simmering.
- Pour the hot heavy cream over the chopped chocolate in a single pour, leave to set for a few moments, then whisk with a hand whisk or rubber spatula until you have a smooth, lump-free liquid hot chocolate ganache.
- Cover the chocolate ganache on contact with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until chilled (approx. 2-3 hours - it should come down to around 71°F/ 22-23°C).
- Whip the cooled chocolate ganache with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until lighter in color and airy and smooth in texture.
- Keep at room temperature until ready to assemble.
Assembling the cake
- Cut out the humps of the 3 layers of cake so that the sponge cakes are at the same level.
- Place a cake board on a cake turntable, then place a first layer of chocolate cake.
- Fill with a layer of chocolate ganache and add a boudin of ganache around the edges to make a hollow in the center and place the raspberry filling.
- Place the second layer of cake and repeat this last step for all the remaining layers.
- Finish by applying a thin layer of chocolate ganache over the entire cake to seal in the crumbs, and place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes if necessary to harden a little.
- Once again apply a thicker layer of chocolate ganache over the whole cake, smoothing it with a icing smoother, and place the cake back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Pour the chocolate drip over the top of the cake and decorate with the fresh berries.
>> You'll also love: How to frost a cake for perfect results
Serving Suggestions
Here are a few delicious suggestions for serving your raspberry chocolate cake on a dessert plate:
- With whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream to soften the full-bodied chocolate flavor.
- A hot chocolate sauce and a bit of raspberry filling or raspberry sauce.
- A few crunchy nuts to add texture.
- A vanilla custard.
Storage and freeze
In the fridge: The leftover raspberry chocolate cake recipe should be stored in the fridge under plastic wrap or in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Freezing: You can easily freeze them for up to 3 months, just place them cut up in bags and let them defrost gently in the fridge.
Tips for this recipe
- Allow the chocolate cake layers to cool completely in the fridge before assembling. If they are still warm, the filling may melt on contact and the cake will collapse.
- Apply a thin layer of ganache over the whole cake to seal in the crumbs and leave the cake with a clean, clear frosting.
- Leave the cake to cool for at least 30 minutes in the fridge before drizzling the dark chocolate glaze.
- Take the cake out 20 minutes before serving to soften the texture a little.
More Chocolate Cake recipes
Recipe Variations
More flavorful filling: Add a raspberry whipped cream and some fresh raspberries too, you'll get a sweeter filling and a more intense raspberry flavor.
Buttercream option: If you only swear by buttercream in your cakes then here are my all-time favorite whipped buttercream recipe made simply with unsalted butter and powdered sugar or you can simply add unsweetened cocoa powder to make a chocolate buttercream frosting version.
For the more experienced, try Swiss meringue buttercream, Italian meringue buttercream or French buttercream.
Chocolate frosting option: For a rich chocolate cake you can go to this chocolate mascarpone frosting, this whipped chocolate ganache, a vanilla white chocolate ganache or this milk chocolate ganache.
With other fruits: Replace the raspberry with strawberry compote and strawberry whipped cream, or lemon blueberry compote and blueberry frosting.
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Chocolate Raspberry Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices
Description
A delicious chocolate raspberry cake made from a moist buttermilk chocolate cake layer filled with a fruity raspberry filling, chocolate ganache and chocolate drip (for a 6 inches / 15 cm diameter cake, 8-10 slices).
Ingredients
Chocolate cake
- 225 g (1 ¾ cups) Cake flour
- 80 g (⅔ cup) Cocoa powder - unsweetened
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 160 ml (¾ cup) Vegetable oil - grapeseed or sunflower oil
- 345 g (1 ¾ cups) Sugar - granulated
- 3 Eggs - room temperature approx. 165 g
- 1 ½ tsp. Vanilla extract
- 190 ml (¾ cup) Buttermilk
- 170 ml (¾ cup) Black coffee - cooled
Raspberry cake filling
Make my raspberry compote recipe
Chocolate ganache
- 400 g (2 ½ cups - 14 0z) Chocolate chips - semi-sweet
- 450 ml (2 cups) Heavy Cream - full fat
Chocolate drip
- 80 g (½ cup) Chocolate chips - semi-sweet
- 80 g (⅓ cup) Heavy cream - full fat
Instructions
Chocolate cake
- Preheat the oven to 329°F/165°C° and line 3 6 inches/ 15 cm-diameter baking pans with parchment paper (if you only have one pan, plan to bake the mixture in 3 batches).
- In a bowl, mix and sift together the dry ingredients: cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk and cooled black coffee and set aside.
- In the bowl of a mixer, mix the oil with the sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix for at least 3 minutes with an electric mixer.
- Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk and coffee mixture alternately and in batches, mixing with a rubber spatula until you have a smooth, slightly liquid batter.
- Divide the mixture into 3 and distribute into the 3 prepared pans, then bake in the oven for around 30-35 minutes until puffed on top and cooked through in the center.
- Take the chocolate cakes out of the pans and leave them to cool for a few minutes before unmolding, then cool completely on a wire rack.
Raspberry filling
Follow my recipe for raspberry compote.
Chocolate ganache
- Finely break or chop the chocolate and place in a large bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering.
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate all at once and leave for a few moments.
- Mix with a hand whisk or spatula until you have a smooth, lump-free liquid ganache (use a hand blender if necessary to smooth the ganache).
- Cover on contact and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours, until the ganache is at around 71°F / 22°C.
- Whip the cooled ganache with an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment for about 2 minutes at medium speed until you obtain a smooth ganache.
Chocolate drip
- In a double boiler or in the microwave, melt the chopped chocolate with the heavy cream until you have a liquid glaze.
- Allow to cool at room temperature to 32°C before using on the cake.
Assemble the cake
- Cut out the bumps on the 3 cakes using a cake leveler or large saw knife.
- Place the first layer of chocolate cake on a cake board placed on a cake decorating turntable.
- If necessary, apply a ring of chocolate ganache to the outer edges of the cake, then fill the inside with the raspberry filling.
- Place a second layer of cake and repeat this last step for the remaining layers of cake.
- Cover the whole cake with a thin layer of chocolate ganache, and spread with an angled spatula to seal in the crumbs. If necessary, place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Apply a new layer of chocolate ganache to the cake and smooth it with icing smoother.
- Drizzle the runny chocolate glaze over the top of the cake and decorate with fresh raspberries.
- Place in the fridge for about 1 hour before serving.
Notes
Storage: Up to 4-5 days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer.
- I don't recommend lowering the sugar content, as this is important for the cake's softness.
- Replace buttermilk with plain yogurt lighlty diluted with semi-skimmed milk, or use milk mixed with a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice.
- Replace coffee with water.
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: cake, layer cake, dessert
- Cuisine: American
WA-HOU it is superb, what a job. Tasty, beautiful, perfect ! Kisses
Yes too greedy, thank you very much
Oulala what a beautiful cake!
Thank you very much
I'm impressed, it's really wow!
Thank you Bénédicte, even if I find it full of faults, it was very good
Hello, is it possible to freeze it?
Hello yes it is possible, I give the information in the article for freezing.
Hi, I'd like to know what buttermilk is... is unsweetened condensed milk the same thing?
Cake yeast ... is it baking powder?
And black coffee ... just water with a few spoonfuls of coffee?
I hope you can answer me .... this recipe looks perfect ^^
Sincerely
buttermilk and sweetened condensed milk are not at all the same thing. You'll find buttermilk in the dairy section of supermarkets next to fresh milk. If you don't have any, you can replace it with semi-skimmed milk.
Cake yeast is bagged baking powder (not dry baker's yeast).
Black coffee stick is optional, but you can also replace it with coffee diluted in hot water.
Being that I am too lazy and poor to make (or buy) raspberries for the compote, could I replace that with raspberry jam? If so, how much jam would I use for the filling? Thank you and God bless you.
Hi Monika, no worries, I mentioned on the post that you can replace it with raspberry jam, you need about 2 large tablespoons of jam for the 2 layers, that's about 80 g of jam (1/3 cup). See you soon and don't hesitate to leave a review of the recipe when you've made it.