Chocolate and Berry Cake with Italian Buttercream
7 servings
240 minutes
The beautiful decoration of this cake is no less important than its taste. According to Anna Olson, pastry chef, you can use any color of cream to create the delicious petals, but three shades of pink make the cake a true work of culinary art.
1
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Take a 20 cm diameter mold or pan. Dust it with flour and line it with baking paper.
- Wheat flour grade 1: 1.3 glass
2
Place the chopped chocolate in a small deep dish, add hot coffee, and let them mix for a minute. Then stir the chocolate (don't worry if the mixture doesn't look smooth).
- Chocolate: 45 g
- Freshly brewed coffee: 0.8 glass
3
In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk buttermilk, oil, egg, egg white, and vanilla extract. Combine the contents of the bowls and stir until smooth. Divide the batter into 3 portions. One portion is one layer. The batter will be liquid and won't take up much space, but don't worry, it will rise well in the oven. Bake each layer in a baking pan for 30 minutes. You can check the readiness of the batter with a match: insert it into the center of the cake; if it comes out clean, the layer is ready. Do not remove the layers from the pan for 30 minutes – then take them out to cool completely.
- Sugar: 2.5 glasss
- Wheat flour grade 1: 1.3 glass
- Cocoa powder: 0.8 glass
- Slaked soda: 1 teaspoon
- Baking powder: 0.5 teaspoon
- Salt: 0.5 teaspoon
- Buttermilk: 0.8 glass
- Vegetable oil: 6 tablespoons
- Chicken egg: 1 piece
- Egg white: 7 pieces
- Vanilla extract: 1.5 tablespoon
4
To prepare the cream, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt using a mixer or blender on medium speed. Whip the whites until foamy. Then increase the speed to high and slowly add 0.5 cups (100 g) of sugar until the whites thicken. Turn off the mixer.
- Egg white: 7 pieces
- Salt: 0.5 teaspoon
- Sugar: 2.5 glasss
5
Take a pot, place the remaining sugar (1.5 cups, 300 g) and water in it, and boil the sugar over high heat without stirring. Use a cooking thermometer to measure the boiling temperature of the sugar. Once it reaches 116 degrees, remove the pot from the heat. Turn the blender (mixer) back on at high speed and slowly and carefully pour the hot mixture into the whipped egg whites. The mixture should be poured along the edge of the blender bowl. Whip the meringue at high speed until it cools to room temperature (this will take 8-10 minutes).
- Sugar: 2.5 glasss
- Water: 0.5 glass
6
Without turning off the blender, start adding the butter: piece by piece. Mix the contents of the blender (bowl) yourself once or twice. The meringue will start to settle when adding the butter - this is normal, don't worry. Pour in the vanilla extract.
- Unsalted butter: 460 g
- Vanilla extract: 1.5 tablespoon
7
Set aside 1.5 cups of the cream in a separate bowl, add melted chocolate and berries. Put the remaining cream aside. In both cases, the cream should cool to room temperature.
- Dark chocolate: 60 g
- Raspberry: 320 g
8
We start to 'assemble' the cake. Place one of the layers on a prepared plate. Spread half of the chocolate-berry cream on it. Place the second layer on top and secure it. Add the remaining half of the chocolate-berry cream. Cover with a third layer.
9
Let's start decorating the cake. It should have 3 shades of pink: bright, dark, and light. Add a little food coloring to the remaining buttercream to make it a soft pink. Take some of the cream and cover the top layer and sides of the cake. The top layer should be thick, while the sides should be thinner. At this stage, you should still have cream left for decorating the cake with petals.
- Food coloring: to taste
10
Divide the remaining cream into 3 portions. Add food coloring to two of them. You need to get 3 shades: light pink, pink, and dark pink. Place each portion in a piping bag.
- Food coloring: to taste
11
Start decorating the sides of the cake with petals using a pastry bag. Move vertically down, alternating petals: 2 dark, 2 medium, 2 light. Use a pastry knife to shape the petals correctly. Once the sides are ready, proceed to decorate the top, alternating the cream as follows: 1 dark petal, 2 medium, 2 light, again 1 dark. Repeat this procedure until the entire cake is decorated. Done.