Red, White, Blue....And Chocolate too Cake!

Recipe by Josiah Trimper

The name says it all!  This three layered chocolate cake is frosted with a cream cheese frosting and topped with strawberries and blueberries.  This recipe is quite similar to the one my family has been using for years except for two new crucial ingredients: olive oil & espresso balsamic vinegar.  Olive oil is known to produce a moist cake and adds flavor depth.  The espresso balsamic vinegar helps with enhancing that chocolate flavor, but it also is a important ingredient for the cake's texture.  Many cake recipes call for buttermilk, which is used over milk because of it's lower pH.  When the acid inside of the milk reacts with leavening ingredients (Baking powder, baking soda, or any other basic compound) it will commence in a chemical reaction which, which produces air bubbles.  As a result, the cake has a fluffier texture.    

 

I tested this recipe on a crazy Thursday night.  My family ogled over the colors of the berries.  Soon, it was gobbled up, every last piece of it.  I am only changing one thing with this recipe since the time I developed it, and that's my choice of frosting.  Originally, I tried a stabilized whipped cream cheese frosting; however, I feel to hold the fruit a more stable frosting is needed (and frosting a three layer cake with such a light frosting is no easy task for those who aren't the best at decorating cakes- and I fall into that category).  With that said, I would suggest Janni's cream cheese frosting from allrecipe.com.  I have used it in the past, and I received many complements.  Here's the link: http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/9926/cream-cheese-frosting-ii/

I really hope you all enjoy this cake as much as my family!

Chocolate Cake:
*2 Cups of sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 fresh eggs
2 tablespoons of espresso balsamic vinegar
Nearly 1 cup (minus 2 tablespoons)
1/2 of olive oil (preferably a less intense oil)
1 cup boiling water
Around 3 pounds of strawberries and blueberries (I used two pounds of sliced strawberries and one pound of blueberries)
*the amount of sugar can depend on the olive oil you're using.  After mixing the dry and wet, taste to see if additional sugar should be added.  If so, mix additional sugar with the boil water to prevent a grainy texture.

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease three 8 inch round baking pans
2. In a large bowl stir all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and in this case sugar.)  Pour your measured espresso balsamic vinegar into a 1 cup measurement and measure the milk in the same cup.  To the large bowl with all of the dry ingredients, add eggs, olive oil, and milk/espresso.  Before adding the boiling water, taste to see if more sugar needs to be added.  If so, mix-in additional sugar with the boiling water and add to mixture, an if not, add boiling water on it's own.
3. Evenly pour batter into the pans, and place pans into the preheated oven.  These can take anywhere from 25-35 minutes to bake, so the best way to determine if they're ready is to insert a toothpick into the center of the cake and check to see if it comes out dry.  Once fully baked, wait about 15 minutes to remove from pans.  
4. After 15 minutes, send a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake.  Place a plate on top of the pans and flip the pans over so the plate is on the bottom (Note: if cake still hasn't released from the pan take the end of a spatula and hit it against the bottom of the pan which should release the cake).
5. Once cakes are removed, place them on a cooling rack to cool completely (This is a great time to prepare your frosting!)
6. Once cooled, ***frost cakes to your preference and add sliced berries.  

***if you're not comfortable with frosting, here's a simple video on the how-to's of frosting:

http://youtu.be/OVnCW3ZLX58.  There are many great videos on YouTube that demonstrate how to frost cakes.