Berry Black Forest Cake

This cake is a twist on the prairie favourite: Black Forest Cake. My version swaps the cherries for frozen berries and just put icing between the layers instead of the whole thing because I don't want to take the attention away from the amazing chocolate cake! I add some chopped dark chocolate to add a little bitterness to the sweet icing and berries. All in all, its a pretty darn good cake!

Yield: 6-8 pieces

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 30-33 minutes

Cake:

2 cups flour

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup milk (can use whatever kind you have)

1/4 cup sour cream, plain yogurt, or mayo

1 cup oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup hot water

Icing:

2 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup butter, salted or unsalted, melted

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 Tbsp milk

Optional toppings: chopped dark chocolate, fresh or frozen berries, thawed, or canned cherries.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and oil 3 8-inch pans, you can cut circle of parchment to cover the bottoms and just oil the sides too.

2. Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and combine.

3. Add eggs, milk, and oil to the dry ingredients to mixture and combine

4. Add vanilla, sour cream (or alternative), and hot water and mix.

5. Divide batter evenly between pans and carefully put in the oven to bake for 30-33 minutes, whenever a toothpick comes out clean (or with a few crumbs).

6. Remove cakes from oven and allow to cook in pan for 10 minutes. Then, carefully remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

7. Make the icing and prepare toppings.

8. Cut the tops of the cakes off to make them level for stacking. Then, ice each layer, stacking one on top of another.

9. Top the cake with desired toppings and serve!

If you try this recipe out, let me know how it goes! I'm not a professional with cakes, especially layered ones, but this turned out looking nice and tasting amazing! So, if you're in the same boat as me and scared to try it out, do it! The worst that could happened is a cake flopping or falling apart getting it out of the pan (which happened to me, but I fixed it. Icing is just edible glue right??). You can always just try again.

If you try it, make sure to send me a picture, tag me in it on Instagram or Facebook or use the hashtag #emsprairiekitchen.

Thanks for tuning in. Have a great day!