Best Layer Cake Ever!

Introducing the Best Layer Cake Ever! It’s all about the filling with this cake.  Chocolate cake paired with pastry cream (homemade vanilla pudding) and raspberry jam!  Don’t bring a boring cake to your next gathering.  Bring the Best Layer Cake Ever!

Best Layer Cake Ever – Cake Recipe:

330 grams – Water
87 grams – Guittard Cocoa Powder

450 grams – All-Purpose Flour
540 grams – Sugar
11 grams – Salt
22 grams – Baking Soda

330 grams -Buttermilk
210 grams – Vegetable Oil
3 Large – Eggs
10 grams – Nielsen-Massey Vanilla

Best Layer Cake EVER – Cake Instructions:

1.  Place water in a pot and bring to a boil. Take off heat.
2.  Dump cocoa powder into water.  Whisk until smooth.  Place in refrigerator to cool.
3. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Whisk together.
4. Combine milk, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk together.
5. Combine the flour and milk mixture together.  Whisk until combined.
6. Add the slightly cooled cocoa powder/water mixture to the mixture from step 5.

****Important Step***** – Whisk final batter for 1 minute!

Best Layer Cake EVER – Baking Instructions:

1. Pour chocolate cake batter into two, non-stick, greased 9-inch pans. (*Trick – place parchment paper down in the pan first.  Grease under the parchment and on top.)
2. Bake at 325 F for 55 minutes to 1 hour.  Do not open oven until at least 50 minutes has passed!
3. Once you can stick a toothpick or butter knife in the middle and it comes out clean take it out of the oven to cool.
4. Chill in the refrigerator.

Pastry Cream Recipe (Vanilla Pudding):

32 oz – Whole Milk
10 oz – Sugar
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4 – Large Egg Yolks
2 – Large Eggs
3 oz – Sugar
2.5 oz – Corn Starch
.05 oz – Salt (A Pinch)
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2 oz – Unsalted Butter
.5 oz – Vanilla Extract

Pastry Cream Instructions (Vanilla Pudding):

1. Place your milk and 10 oz of sugar into a medium to large sized sauce pot.
   
2. Weigh and place your eggs yolks, eggs, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl and whisk together.
   
3. Weight and place your butter in cut up pieces on a small plate.
4. You are now ready to start cooking. Place your sauce pot with milk and sugar onto your stovetop.  Turn on medium-high heat and wait for it to come to a boil.  At the first signs of a boil remove it from the heat. (Whisk occasionally while it is heating).
5. Slowly add that hot milk/sugar mixture to your egg mixture while whisking vigorously until all of the milk mixture and egg mixture are combined.
   
   

   
6. Put that mixture back into the saucepan and place back on the heat at medium to medium-high heat.
   
7. Whisk vigorously while this mixture heats.  You will notice that it will begin to thicken greatly as it comes near a boil.  Once you see the first bubble of a boil and the pudding has thickened remove from heat.
   
8. Lastly, add your butter and vanilla directly to the hot pudding.  Whisk until it is all combined.
   
   

   

   
9. Pour into a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to cool for at least 6 hours but best to let it cool overnight.

Making Your Layer Cake:

1. Remove your two cakes from their pans.  Cut each cake in half with a large bread knife (long ways as to create a layer). You should now have 4 thin cake layers.
   
2. Place one cake layer on the plate you wish to present on.  Place a thin layer of raspberry jam on that layer (you can use any fruit you wish).
   
3. Second, place your pastry cream (vanilla pudding) into a gallon sized plastic bag with a small round piping tip on the end.  Put a thin layer of pastry cream right on top of your jam layer.
   
4. Repeat this process until you get to the top of the cake.
5. On the very top of the cake pipe out a thin layer of pastry cream and then smooth out with a spatula.
6. Finally, add raspberries to the top of your cake and serve cold.