One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is to go back over my old favorite recipes and see where I can improve and tweak them.

Taking my go-to recipes, like that of chocolate cake or vanilla cake, and seeing what other flavors I could add to them, maybe adding fruits or chocolate chips, throwing them in a trifle together, and sometimes all of these ideas at once.

We recently had a friend over for dinner, which meant the perfect opportunity to try out a recipe that had been in the works, if only in my head.

I had been wanting to try a different variation of my favorite chocolate cake but was having a bit of trouble narrowing down the flavors.

Then we had another friend gift us with some homemade raspberry jam.

Raspberry has always been one of my favorite flavors, and you just can’t beat something like homemade raspberry jam or jelly.

This cake was just waiting to happen. Especially with raspberry season just around the corner.

If you need a moist, delicious chocolate raspberry cake in your life, then I’ve got the cake for you.

As always, thanks for reading, and happy baking from hbk!

CHOCOLATE

RASPBERRY CAKE

INGREDIENTS

2 C. all-purpose flour

2 C. sugar

1 C. cocoa

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 C. water

1 stick butter

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

FILLING

6 Tbsp. raspberry preserves

¢ C. semisweet chocolate chips

GANACHE

¢ C. heavy cream

1 Tbsp. raspberry preserves

¢ C. semisweet chocolate chips

Fresh raspberries for garnish, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and prepare a bundt pan with some nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat up the two cups of water and stick of butter over medium-high heat.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

4. Using a fork, mix the vanilla extract and eggs together in a small bowl.

5. Once the water and butter reach a steady boil, remove from heat and pour directly into the dry ingredients. Mix as much as you can, then add in the egg and extract mixture. Stir until smooth.

6. Fill the pan with half of the batter. Using a spoon, scoop the jelly on top of the batter, forming a ring that does not to touch the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the preserves, again trying not to touch the sides.

7. Pour the rest of the batter on top, spreading to the sides.

8. Bake for 52 minutes, give or take a bit depending on your oven. Your cake should have a nice crackle on the top. Immediately flip over onto a cake stand.

9. During the last 15 minutes that the cake is in the oven, heat the heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the cream starts to bubble, stir in the chocolate chips using a rubber spatula.

Stir along the bottom of the pan to ensure that none of the chocolate chips stick to the bottom or burn. Once you have a smooth texture with no lumps, add in the raspberry jelly and stir well.

10. Drizzle the ganache over the cake, and add any fresh raspberries to the cake that you may like as a garnish. Serve warm.

Yields 12-15 servings.

Katy Wise is a Fredonia resident.