A Labor of Love...

Cooking and baking, for me, are labors of love. And, man, that's a cause Ophelia can get behind.

Case in point: I am SO proud of my friend D. She defends her dissertation on Monday, and I know she will be just awesome. I wanted to do something for her defense, so I told her I'd make a cake. She has requested a Chocolate Raspberry cake, so today, I did a trial run. I had my good friends/celebrity taste testers K and P try it. The reviews were favorable, so I thought I'd post the recipes and antics here.

Now, I must admit that this is the first double-layered cake I've made. And, like all things new, I had some snafus. I broke the cake trying to put it on the pedestal. Then, I put waxed paper, meant to keep me from making a mess on the plate while frosting, too far under the cake, and broke off a chunk trying to remove it. I was also afraid Ophelia might rebel. The dough was thick, the steps many. She talked about walking, but decided that, since I asked her very nicely and promised to sing to her, she'd cooperate.

As you can see from the pictures above that chronicle our cake baking, we had some fun together. Yes, I do wear headphones while I bake. Likely, I was rocking out to Bon Jovi. Don't knock it till you try it. Really gets the creativity flowing. This was also my first experience with egg whites. Folding is harder than it looks, my friends.

Then, the baking -- bake, babies, bake! Likely at that point, I was dancing around the kitchen, singing Prince. Cakes like Prince. Don't ask why, just trust and try it. Ok, maybe it's for me -- he is, after all, a Minnesota boy.

They came out so pretty, don't you see? No, I know nothing about the cake with the smiley face. If you find the individual who picked the crunchy, chocolate-y goodness topping off so they could have a taste without ruining things, Ophelia offers a reward.

And, ah, the end result. I've turned it around so you can't see the broken side. And, now I've let my secret out of the bag. Cake Part Deux tomorrow!

Deep Chocolate Raspberry Cake
(recipe modified from Epicurious.com)

8 one-ounce squares semi-sweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli)
4 one-ounce squares bittersweet chocolate (again, Ghiradelli)
7 eggs, seperated
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Filling:
1 pt. raspberries, crushed
4 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

Frosting:
6 one-ounce squares semi-sweet chocolate (once more, Ghiradelli -- I should own stock, or at least get a fee for promotion, no?)
3/4 c. heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line bottom of 2 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Melt chocolate in microwave, stirring in 30 second intervals until melted. Cool, and beat in egg yolks. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat together beat butter or margarine, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add chocolate mixture, and continue beating until smooth. Stir in flour until just combined. In another bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar, and continue beating until the whites hold soft peaks. Fold whites into chocolate batter, in three additions. Pour batter into prepared pans, and smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick stuck into the centers of the cakes comes out with moist crumbs, about 45 minutes. Cool in pans.

To Make Frosting: In a saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Chop 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, and stir into the cream. Remove saucepan from heat, and continue stirring until smooth. Pour frosting into bowl, and press sheet of plastic wrap directly against surface of chocolate to prevent formation of a skin. Refrigerate until thick enough to spread.

To Make Filling: Crush raspberries and combine with the jam. Sandwich the cake layers with raspberry filling. Spread top and sides with chocolate frosting.

Notes -- be very careful with the cakes -- they are dense and fudgy, and oh so good, but very, very hard to handle and not break. I wasn't as careful as I should have been and broke the bottom layer in three places. I placed the first layer top-side up, and the second layer top-side down, so that the filling connected with both of the crusty tops. This worked well, I think, because it allowed some of the raspberry filling to absorb into the cake, but not a huge amount to make it soggy. Make sure you can place the cake in the refridgerator for at least an hour before serving to make cutting easier. Enjoy!

Ophelia says to stay tuned for our strawberry-rhubarb crisp -- it's batter bowl scraping good!