Chocolate + Cake + Celebration =

A Very delicious lie.

Today is my husbands birthday. So I decided that I wanted to make him a cake as well as one of his favorite meals for dinner.

Tonight we are having Manicotti and a Chocolate Celebration Cake.Which will be so delicious and moist.

I asked my husband what sort of filling he wanted for his cake, he decided strawberry so it's going to be a variation of the already delicious cake.

To make the cake:

Cake:
3 oz. semisweet chocolate
1 ½ c. hot brewed coffee
3 eggs, room temperature
¾ c. vegetable oil
1 ½ c. buttermilk
¾ tsp vanilla
3 c. sugar
2 ½ c. all purpose flour
1 ½ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ¼ tsp salt

Filling:
1 (16 oz) bag frozen strawberries, thawed
¼ c. sugar
4 tbsp cornstarch

Frosting:
Betty, Duncan, Dough Boy, I'm lazy and prefer the pre-made confections to the homemade ones. I find them too sweet.

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Grease 8 inch baking pans. Set aside.


You will need several bowls for this recipe.

Medium: Combine chocolate and coffee and stir until all the chocolate is melted.

Large bowl: Beat the eggs three to five minutes then add all wet ingredients; oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and coffe-chocolate

Other large bowl: Dry goods here; sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined evenly and everything is a nice tan-ish color.

Add the wet to the dry and mix until it's smooth. I know it will be tempting to lick the beaters, and it's something I've done as a kid with no repercussion, however, I do not recommend this due to the raw egg. 

Divide between three pans and bake between 55-60 minutes. Insert a tooth pick into center of each cake to see if it is done. A clean tooth pick means it's ready to be pulled, dirty and crumby means bake a little longer.

While you are waiting for the cake, now would  be a good time to start on the strawberry filling. Take the thawed berries and put them in a blender or a food processor. Puree until lumpy, but smooth. Add to a sauce pan, along with sugar and corn starch. Stir and stir and stir. The mixture will thicken up as it heats up.

Now once your cakes are done, leave them cool in the pans about five minutes before switching to a wire rack. Cool the cakes completely before frosting otherwise it will melt and you'll have soggy cake and frosting soup.

Once the cakes are cooled, take a long sharp knife and level out the tops of the cakes.

Go on. It's alright to eat the leftover pieces.

spoon some of the strawberry filling on the first layer and spread around until there is about an inch left, place second layer and repeat. Dirty ice the cake with a thin layer of frosting and then coat generously with the rest of the frosting.

Add curly or sparkler candles, light and enjoy the happy.

Recipe adapted/borrow from Baking Junkie. Thank you :)