Wedding Part 1

Saturday, August 7, 2010 was the perfect day for my wedding. Gord and I were married at 4:30 pm at our island cottage on Lake St. Nora, in Haliburton, Ontario. It was a magical day for all in attendance.
As is the case with most cottage weddings, this summer wedding was anything but traditional—it is a second marriage for both of us, we were married beside the lake, our children stood up for us, our playlist included hits from The Black-Eyed Peas, our dance floor was a dock and we served chocolate wedding cake for dessert!

While planning the menu for the wedding, there was unanimous consent from our children for a chocolate wedding cake. Pastry chef, Leigh, from Farmer’s Daughter in Huntsville, Ontario, worked her magic and created a gorgeous dark chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting and fresh raspberry filling, iced with a vanilla buttercream icing. Vertical rows of beautiful, hand-piped flowers encircled both layers of the cake. It was rich, moist and absolutely delicious.

I know I could never reproduce my wedding cake, but I couldn’t help wanting to try. Besides, chocolate cake will never go to waste in our house. I have a number of different chocolate cake recipes I use, but one more than the others. With a few modifications to that recipe, I have come up with something pretty close. As much as I love chocolate, I think a chocolate frosting would be a bit too much chocolate, even for me.

Decadent Chocolate Cake with Chocolate and Raspberry Filling

You’ll Need

Cake:

• ½ cup butter
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1½ cups sour cream
• 4 squares (4 oz) unsweetened chocolate
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cocoa
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt

Filling:

• 2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate
• ½ cup butter
• 4 cups sifted icing sugar
• ⅓ cup (75 mL) light cream
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
• 1 cup fresh raspberries

Frosting:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• ⅓ cup light cream
• 2 tsp vanilla

Prep and Cook

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Butter and flour 2–9” cake pans.
3. Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
5. In top of double boiler over hot, not boiling, water, melt together chocolate and butter, stirring frequently.
6. Remove from heat and let cool.
7. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
8. Add cooled chocolate and sour cream to the bowl and combine.
9. Divide batter evenly between cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
10. Let cakes cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pans and place on racks to cool completely.

Filling:

1. In top of double boiler over hot, not boiling, water, melt together chocolate and butter, stirring frequently.
2. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
3. With an electric mixer, cream butter in a mixing bowl.
4. Gradually add icing sugar to the butter, beating well after each cup.
5. Add the cream and vanilla and beat until well blended and fluffy.
6. If too thin, beat in more sugar; if too thick, beat in more cream.
7. Arrange one cake layer on a serving plate, spread with chocolate filling and a layer of fresh raspberries.
8. Place the second cake layer on top.

Frosting:

1. In a large bowl, beat butter on high speed, scraping the sides, until light and fluffy.
2. Add the powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy.
3. Ice the top of the cake first and then the sides.
4. Serve with a few fresh raspberries.

More details (and photos) about the food to come in my next blog post.

What is your favourite cake recipe?