chocolate strawberry cake recipe 🍓🍫🍰✨ Ingredients 🧈🥚 Chocolate Cake -4 eggs, room temp -1/8 tsp salt -¾ cup sugar -2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted -¾ cups flour -¼ cup cocoa powder -1½ tsp baking powder Chocolate Pastry Cream Filling -4 ½ cups whole milk -4 tsp vanilla extract -4 tbsp cocoa powder -8 egg yolks -1 cup brown sugar -6 tbsp cornstarch -12 oz semisweet chocolate -4 tbsp butter, softened Chocolate Ganache - 9 ounces semisweet chocolate -1 cup heavy cream For assembling the cake you will need: Cake mold/ring Acetate sheets Instructions 📝 Cakes 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans & line with parchment paper. 2. Add 4 eggs & salt to mixer bowl fitted with whisk attachment & whip eggs until slightly foamy. Slowly pour sugar into eggs & continue whipping for about 15 mins or until mixture forms a ribbon that doesn't disappear for about 3 seconds when you lift off whisk. 3. Add flour mixture into eggs & carefully fold until almost no streaks of flour are seen. Do not over-mix or cake will be dense. 4. Add melted butter & carefully fold until all butter is incorporated. 5. Pour batter evenly into cake pans 6. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 7. Once cake is baked, remove from oven & allow to sit inside pan for 5 mins before removing it. 8. Then, remove from the pan & invert straight onto the cooling rack, then peel off parchment paper & allow to cool completely before using. Chocolate Pastry Cream Filling 1. Add milk into saucepan. Heat milk over medium high heat until steaming & just about to boil. 2. While milk is heating, place sugar, yolks, cornstarch, cocoa powder, vanilla, & salt in a bowl. Whisk until you have a thick, smooth mix. Set aside until milk comes to a boil. 3. As soon as milk starts to boil, remove from heat. Slowly pour about half of hot milk into egg mix (in a thin stream), WHILE WHISKING CONSTANTLY to temper egg mix. When eggs have been tempered, add egg-milk mix back into hot milk in saucepan. 4. Heat custard base over medium heat, while whisking vigorously until it starts to thicken. This should take about 2-5 minutes 5. Heat until pastry cream comes to a boil. Once the first few bubbles break the surface, keep whisking the pastry cream for about 1-1.5 minutes while whisking constantly. 6. Remove saucepan from heat & immediately add chocolate & butter. Whisk mixture well until chocolate & butter dissolve & mix in well with the rest of the custard. 7. Immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the whole surface. This is to prevent a custard skin from forming on top. 8. Let custard cool down slightly, & then let chill in the fridge until completely chilled. Chocolate Ganache 1. Finely chop chocolate & place in medium mixing bowl 2. Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully 3. As soon as the cream comes to a boil, pour it over the chocolate in the mixing bowl. Stir until chocolate has melted & mixture is smooth. Assembling 1. Fit acetate sheet inside of cake ring/mold. Place first cake layer into mold. (You can soak your cake layers with simple syrup for added moisture) 2. Carefully place sliced strawberries around the edge of cake 3. Spread a layer of pastry cream around strawberries & bottom of cake (be sure to fill in all the gaps with cream until it is level with strawberries) 4. Place layer of strawberries & fill completely with pastry cream 5. Place the next layer of cake on top of pastry cream 6. Add another layer of pastry cream on top of cake & spread evenly 7. Refrigerate or freeze for several hours until the pastry cream has set 8. Pour cooled ganache on top of cake (but not too cool or it won’t drip) 9. Top with strawberries & chocolate pieces #chocolatecake #baking #chocolatecoveredstrawberries #bakingtherapy #cake #baketok #aestheticbaking #bakingideas #dessert #fyp - @laurenn.wright