Chocolate Strawberry Layer Cake

Directions

• For the cake:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease 3 (9 inch round) cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and set aside. . 3. Sift the cocoa powder and expresso powder (if desired) into a large bowl.
• Add the boiling water and whisk until the cocoa is dissolved.
• Let cool for 10 minutes.
• Once the cocoa mixture has cooled, add the oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and add it to the wet ingredients, whisking until combined.
• Pour the batter evenly into the 3 prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes (until the cake springs back when you tap it and the sides of the cake are just starting to pull away from the pans).
• Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and leave in the pans until they are completely cooled.
• 10. While the cakes are cooling, prepare the buttercream filling/frosting.
• For the Buttercream
• In a saucepan, combine the flour and milk and whisk until all the lumps are gone.
• Boil over medium heat until mixture is thick like custard.
• Remove from the stove, cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and cool completely.
• When the custard has cooled, with a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together at high speed for 5 minutes.
• Add the cooled custard mixture and beat until fluffy.
• Add the vanilla extract and the chopped strawberries and beat for 1 minute more.
• Assemble and frost the cakes
• Remove the cakes from the pans by running a knife along the edges.
• Place the first cake on a plate and remove the parchment paper.
• Add a generous dollop of buttercream to the cake and spread it evenly across the cake.
• Place the second cake on top of the first cake and add buttercream, again spreading it evenly.
• Add the final cake on top and frost the entire cake (top and sides) with the remaining buttercream, keeping the top as flat as possible.
• Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least an hour or until the buttercream has hardened.
• When the cake has been in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, start the ganache.
• For the Ganache
• Place the chocolate morsels in a microwave safe bowl
• Pour the whipping cream over the morsels and heat in the microwave for 60 seconds.
• Remove from microwave and stir until the morsels are melted. Depending on your microwave, it might take 15 more seconds or so.
• Stir the ganache frequently to help cool it down.
• When it has cooled, slowly pour it over the top of the cake, smoothing over with a cake spatula, allowing the excess to drip down the sides of the cake.
• Save a small amount of ganache to dip the strawberries that you are using for the garnish. 7. Dip the whole strawberries in the ganache and place them on top of the cake along the edges. (If you prefer, you can skip dipping the strawberries in the ganache and just garnish with the fresh, whole strawberries) .
• Refrigerate cake until the ganache has set, which takes about an hour.
• NOTE: Because this is a buttercream cake, it needs to be stored in the refrigerator.