Chocolate cake with strawberries and cream
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Chocolate cake with strawberries and cream
The perfect pairing:
Choosing your chocolate: In this recipe I’m using a really good quality cocoa powder which will add a lot of chocolate flavor into the cake. I am using cocoa powder from “Cailler” (one of my favorite brands in Switzerland for chocolate and cocoa powder)
Fresh strawberries: this recipe tastes best with fresh seasonal strawberries that are ripe and sweet with a slight acidic flavor. I occasionally like to add a little more sweetness with powdered sugar if I feel like the strawberries are lacking a bit in sweetness. But this is totally optional. I like to mix the strawberries with a little sprinkle of vanilla powder or scraped vanilla pod for extra flavor.
Whipped vanilla mascarpone cream: adds the perfect balance to the rich and intense chocolate cake and the fruity strawberries. The cream cuts through the intense chocolate flavor and the sweet yet acid strawberries and just creates the perfect balance between the two.
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What ingredients do you need for the best chocolate cake:
Eggs: use whole eggs at room temperate
Sunflower oil: this will add moisture to your cake and make for a moist crumb. Sunflower oil is the most neutral flavored oil which is perfect for almost all cakes.
Flour: I use a 550 regular white flour for the best results
Baking soda: this recipe only uses baking soda and no baking powder for a softer crumb
Buttermilk: adding buttermilk instead of regular milk in this cake batter will give you a more airy crumb with a lot of air bubble as the buttermilk reacts with the baking powder a lot stronger than with baking powder and therefore you’ll have a softer more airy crumb.
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Tips for success:
Whipping: Make sure that when you whip the vanilla mascarpone cream you don’t overwhip the mascarpone before adding the whipped cream. Mascarpone has a very high fat content and can easily split if mixed for too long.
Make sure that your ingredients for the mascarpone cream are all cold and straight out of the fridge.
How to store the chocolate cake:
The chocolate cake is very moist when baked fresh but i find that the flavor is even better the next day. The strawberries and cream are best when prepared right before serving.
The vanilla mascarpone whipped cream can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days, but it will loose some of its fluffiness, so it‘s best to make it the day of serving/eating.
THE RECIPE
Makes about 1 loaf 900g
185g all purpose flour ( I used flour 550)
50g cocoa powder ( I used Cailler )
14g baking soda
2g salt
100g eggs (about 2pcs.)
175g buttermilk
110g sunflower oil (or another neutral oil)
175g hot coffee
290g sugar
Vanilla Mascarpone whipped cream:
250g mascarpone
1 vanilla bean
20g powdered sugar
200g whipping cream
200g Fresh strawberries marinated with 1 tsp powdered sugar (optional) and 1/4 tsp vanilla powder
1. Preheat your oven to 170°C-175°C
2. Prepare your cake tin, lined with baking paper + oil or buttered and dusted with cocoa powder.
3. For the chocolate cake start by heating the coffee and the cocoa powder over medium-low heat in a small saucepan, whisking constantly until the mixture reaches a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat immediately and allow to cool down.
4. In a separate bowl or jug mix together the buttermilk, sunflower oil and the eggs until mixed well.
5. In the bowl of your standing mixer sieve the dry ingredients and give it a quick whisk. Add the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and with the whisk attachment mix until smooth and evenly combined. Scrape down their sides to ensure that you have no clumps.
6. Add the cooled coffee-cocoa mixture to the batter and mix once again until you have a smooth and even batter. (The batter will be slightly on the thinner side)
7. Fill the batter into your prepared tin pan lined with baking paper or buttered and dusted with cocoa powder. You can also use cake oil spray for easy and quick coating.
I still like to add a strip of baking paper for easy unfolding.
8. Bake the cake in the preheated oven at 170°C for about 45-60 minutes or a knife inserted comes out clean.
9. Let the cake cool down completely and cover with clingy film and store in the fridge overnight for best results. The cake will be super moist in texture the next day and will have an even more intense chocolate flavor.
1. In the bowl of your standing mixer add the mascarpone, powdered sugar and the scraped out vanilla pod. Mix until smooth and combined but make sure to not over mix the batter as the mascarpone cream can split easily.
2. While whisking add in the liquid whipping cream and whip until you have a smooth and pipe-able consistency. Use immediately or store in the fridge until use.
Marinated strawberries:
1. For the marinated strawberries cut your washed strawberries into quarters and in a small bowl mix them with the powdered sugar and the vanilla powder and let them sit for about 5-10 minutes.
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Happy Baking!
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