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This is one of my go-to party cake recipes that makes a great, moist and delicious chocolate cake that's impressive looking, but simple.
Baking tips for beginners:
Use Room temperature ingredients, particularly room temperature eggs and butter in any recipe. The ingredients more easily whip and emulsify, allowing the batter to properly bake.
Don't over-mix: Over-mixing the batter is a common mistake and one of the biggest culprits of a dense, dry cake. Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, use a spatula to gently mix just until the ingredients are combined.
Spoon measure the flour: Be careful when measuring the flour that you don't “pack” it into the measuring cup. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring up and then level it off with the back of a knife. Too much flour packed into a cake can also cause it to be dense and dry.
No buttermilk? Buttermilk is a really easy ingredient to make yourself, so don't fret if you don't have any on hand!
How to Make Chocolate Raspberry Cake:
1. Make chocolate cake: Mix dry ingredients–sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, vanilla, oil, buttermilk and beat for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water and stir together, being careful not to over-mix the batter. Pour batter into two 9-inch cake pans and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
3. Make raspberry filling: Add sugar, water, lemon juice and cornstarch to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir well to combine. Add raspberries and cook, stirring often, until raspberries have softened into the sauce and the sauce has thickened. Allow to cool completely before filling cake.
4. Make chocolate frosting: Combine butter and cocoa powder. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth and creamy!
5. Assemble your cake: Spread a layer of raspberry filling in between the two chocolate cake layers. Frost the outside of the cake with chocolate frosting. If desired, spread remaining raspberry filling on top of the cake.
For High Altitude:
Since the air pressure is lower at higher altitudes, more flour is needed to ensure your cake rises appropriately. Increase flour by 2 Tablespoons if you are baking at high altitude.
For Store Bought Raspberry cake filling:
If you don’t wish to make the filling from scratch you could use a can of raspberry cake filling. (I prefer the Solo brand).
For seedless raspberry filling:
Cook the raspberries with only water and lemon juice. Press the mixture through a sieve, and return the seedless strawberry juice/pulp to the pan. Add sugar and cornstarch and cook until thickened.
Make Ahead and Freezing instructions:
The cake can be made and assembled up to 1 day in advance. Cover and store at room temperature or in the fridge.
Chocolate frosting will last for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator and can be frozen for 2-3 months in a freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before frosting.
To freeze the chocolate cake, cover each cooled cake layer with plastic wrap and place in a freezer-safe container or gallon bag. Freeze for up to 1 month. I think frozen cakes are easier to frost!
Consider trying these popular desserts:
- German Chocolate Cake
- Better Than Anything Cake
- Mississippi Mud Brownies
- Snickerdoodles Bars
- Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Tres Leches Cake
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Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup oil, (vegetable or canola oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Chocolate Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter, , melted
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Raspberry Filling:
- 2 cups raspberries, (fresh or frozen)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Fresh raspberries for topping on the cake, , optional
Instructions
Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 or 9 inch round baking pans (I also like to line them with parchment or wax paper).
- Stir dry ingredients together: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add eggs, vanilla, oil, buttermilk and beat for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water, which will make the batter very thin. Pour batter into prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen cake from sides of pan. Invert cakes onto cooling racks.
- Once cooled completely you can wrap them with plastic wrap and store them room temperature for one day, or you can wrap them with plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag to decorate them another day.
Raspberry Cake Filling:*
- Add sugar, water, lemon juice and cornstarch to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir well to combine. Add raspberries and cook, stirring often, until raspberries have softened into the sauce and the sauce has thickened. Allow to cool completely before filling cake. (See notes for seedless raspberry filling.)
Chocolate Frosting:
- Combine butter and cocoa powder. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth and creamy! Add additional powdered sugar, to thicken, or milk, to the the frosting, if needed.
Assemble your cake:
- Place one cake round on plate or cake stand. Add desired amount of raspberry filling and spread into a smooth layer. Top with second cake round. Frost the outside of the cake with chocolate frosting. Add fresh raspberries on top, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This Chocolate cake and chocolate frosting are Hershey's recipe.
I originally shared this recipe March 2013. Updated April 2020 with process photos and instructions.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
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I made this cake with my 16 year old. The directions were easy to follow and the outcome was delicious. Perhaps the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made. We cooked the cakes to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cake was moist and chocolaty. I will be making this cake again, soon.
Hi, first off love this recipe, tried it out last weekend and it was delicious!! not sure if it’s been asked already, but any suggestions on the best way to convert this to cupcakes? Was thinking of doing this as a cupcake form for a friend’s birthday and filling it with the raspberry compote.
Thank you!!
So glad you loved it!! thank you! Yes, you can definitely turn this into cupcakes. Fill your liners about ⅔ full and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 18–22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. The raspberry compote sounds like an amazing filling—just scoop a little center out after baking and pipe it in. Your friend is lucky!
How much batter should go into each cake pan to make the layers even?
I don’t have the exact weight, but I recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh all the batter, then dividing the total by 2 to get the amount needed for each pan.