Chocolate Raspberry Cake

My friend J just had a baby less than three weeks ago. She also happens to be my coworker so before she went off on maternity leave, my coworkers and I took her out for a baby shower lunch. The original proposed date was v. snowy and our office was closed so we ended up rescheduling for a couple days later, which, funnily enough, was Valentine's Day. We went to one of my favorite local eateries, The Pasta Shop, and I wanted to bring a festive and celebratory dessert so I ended up making a chocolate cake.

I used my old standby favorite chocolate cake recipe and decided to jazz it up with some raspberries because I love that combination. It was a hit; everyone seemed to enjoy it (or maybe they were just being nice to spare my feelings). I also bought a couple of 6-inch cake pans because I realized that 8-inch layer cakes are just way too humongous unless you're really trying to feed a crowd (and there were less than ten of us in attendance at this shindig). I figured that the 6-inch cake would also be great for those occasions where I want to enjoy a layer cake at home but I don't want to end up throwing away half a stale cake because I can't finish an entire cake in under a week. (I mean, let's face it, I totally could but knowing I shouldn't, I wouldn't.)

Anyway, this post is more about the raspberry compote filling and then a few shots of the assembly of the cake. The chocolate cake and chocolate ganache frosting have their own full descriptive posts already.

Ingredients:
chocolate cake
chocolate ganache frosting

raspberry compote
2 pints raspberries
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Once the cakes are in the oven and baking, you can get started on the raspberry filling. The compote is super simple to make. Just add all of the ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat until the raspberries begin to break down and the juices come to a boil. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the cornstarch completely thickens the mixture. Set aside to cool.

While the cakes and raspberry compote are cooling, whip up some chocolate frosting.

To assemble the cakes, spread some frosting onto the bottom layer, pipe a ring of frosting around the edge to act like a little fence to prevent the compote from oozing, and then spread the compote inside the ring of frosting.

Repeat with each layer until the whole cake is assembled.

Frost the outside with a generous amount of frosting and top with fresh raspberries.

I think this cake is just so photogenic and lovely and it tastes great too. I didn't end up getting a photo of the sliced cake; I totally forgot. But, trust me, it was pretty, cute, and picturesque when it was cut up. It looked like a cartoon cake.

Congratulations, J!

Here's the recipe page: