Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling

Recipe adapted from Recipe Girl

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Hopefully you have someone to celebrate with and snuggle up to tonight. I know there are a lot of single people who hate this holiday, but instead of thinking of it as a day to celebrate love think of it as a day to celebrate chocolate!

Lori posted this chocolate cake recipe to celebrate a recent blog birthday but I knew I wanted to try it out for Valentine’s day. This is honestly the first time I have ever made a cake from scratch. While it was definitely more time consuming than adding some extras to a box mix, it is completely worth it! I was a little worried about the coffee in the recipe because I can’t tolerate the smell or taste of it, but neither one really came through much in the final product. I followed Lori’s advice and used Ghiradelli chocolate and the result was a cake and frosting that were incredibly rich and decadent. Words cannot possibly describe exactly how good this cake is. The strawberry filling is a great compliment to the chocolate and makes for a very romantic dessert! Enjoy!

Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling
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Cake:
3 ounces semisweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli chocolate chips)
1 ½ cups hot brewed coffee
3 eggs, room temperature
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups buttermilk
¾ tsp vanilla
3 cups sugar
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ¼ tsp salt

Frosting:
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
¼ cup (1/2 stick) salted butter, cut into small pieces

Filling:
1 (16 oz) bag frozen strawberries, thawed
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 8-inch cake pans. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, then spray paper too. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the chocolate and hot coffee. Stir together and let sit until chocolate is melted. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs for 3-5 minutes. Add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and coffee until well combined. In a separate bowl combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.

Divide batter amongst the three pans and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, bring the cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat. Remove pan from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Add butter and stir until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and place in refrigerator until it reaches spreading consistency (mine took about 45 minutes).

To make filling, puree strawberries in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a small saucepan and combine with sugar and cornstarch. Stir constantly over medium low heat. Mixture will thicken as it boils. Let cool completely before use.

To assemble the cake, run a small knife around the cake edges and remove from pans. Place half of the strawberry filling over the top of one cake. Top with second layer, then the remaining filling. Place final layer on top then cover and frost with ganache.

**If you don’t have three cake pans you can make a double layer cake and use the rest for cupcakes. Avoid filling the pans more than ⅔ full so they don’t spill over. Use all of the strawberry filling between the layers.**