Hi: I need to make a cake for a good friends 50th birthday. She is really a "foodie" and wants a chocolate and raspberry cake. I would like to make something a little fancier than a standard chocolate cake with raspberry filling, but can't come up with any ideas. I would like it to be really fancy looking and have some great filling or fillings, like mousse or something along those lines? Does anyone have any ideas? TIA.
I make a "raspberry cream" filling that is lighter like a mousse by adding 1/2 and 1/2 buttercream (or whipped icing works well too) and raspberry sleeve filling
As for the decorations...what about a chocolate mosaic cake with the shards of chocolate on the outside and maybe fill in around the top ledges with raspberries??
Gateau Chocolat Framboise por Suzie1962:
Don't make a regular chocolate/Devil's food type cake, make chocolate genoise (make 3 layers).
Torte the layers and brush generously with a 50/50 mix of simple syrup and framboise (raspberry) eau de vie.
Make raspberry compote by mixing raspberries, sugar and a little lemon juice and mash up. Cook until thick and syrupy. Push through a chenoise to remove seeds. Finished compote needs to be about 1-1/2 cups.
Use 1/2 of the compote to fill the 3 torted sections of the cake (1/4 cup per layer).
Fold half of the other half of the raspberry compote into stabilized whipped cream to make raspberry mousse and use this to fill the cake.
So assembled, it is cake, compote, cake, mousse, cake, compote, cake, mousse, cake, compote, cake.
Optional: place fresh whole raspberries on the cake before filling with the mousse. Space raspberries evenly out, have at least the spaces between be as large as the berries themselves.
Make a dark chocolate ganache spiked with the framboise eau de vie and enrobe assembled cake and let set.
Decorate top of cake with large dark and white chococolate shards and fresh raspberries.
Take the remaining compote and thin with framboise eau de vie until it is a sauce consistency.
Make also a dark chocolate and a white chocolate sauce.
Flood/decorate dessert plates with the rasberry and chocolate sauces. Place slice of cake onto sauces. Garnish with fresh raspberries and mint sprig.
Gateau Chocolat Framboise por Suzie1962:
Don't make a regular chocolate/Devil's food type cake, make chocolate genoise (make 3 layers).
Torte the layers and brush generously with a 50/50 mix of simple syrup and framboise (raspberry) eau de vie.
Make raspberry compote by mixing raspberries, sugar and a little lemon juice and mash up. Cook until thick and syrupy. Push through a chenoise to remove seeds. Finished compote needs to be about 1-1/2 cups.
Use 1/2 of the compote to fill the 3 torted sections of the cake (1/4 cup per layer).
Fold half of the other half of the raspberry compote into stabilized whipped cream to make raspberry mousse and use this to fill the cake.
So assembled, it is cake, compote, cake, mousse, cake, compote, cake, mousse, cake, compote, cake.
Optional: place fresh whole raspberries on the cake before filling with the mousse. Space raspberries evenly out, have at least the spaces between be as large as the berries themselves.
Make a dark chocolate ganache spiked with the framboise eau de vie and enrobe assembled cake and let set.
Decorate top of cake with large dark and white chococolate shards and fresh raspberries.
Take the remaining compote and thin with framboise eau de vie until it is a sauce consistency.
Make also a dark chocolate and a white chocolate sauce.
Flood/decorate dessert plates with the rasberry and chocolate sauces. Place slice of cake onto sauces. Garnish with fresh raspberries and mint sprig.
Now wiping the drool off the keyboard... 
This sounds absolutely delicious...I need a reason to make a cake and try this! Thank you for sharing! 
oh,any tips on the stabilized whipped cream for that dreamy cake? i've tried with gelatin but it leaves lumps of gelatin in the cream
Mike, what is this "blooming" of the gelatin? 
I have tried a few recipes using gelatin, some work, some don't, and now I think maybe I didn't bloom the gelatin, or at least I didn't do it properly??
Mike, what is this "blooming" of the gelatin?
I have tried a few recipes using gelatin, some work, some don't, and now I think maybe I didn't bloom the gelatin, or at least I didn't do it properly??
To bloom gelatin you let it sit in some COLD water. This kind of dissolves it, and soaks up the water/liquid. You can bloom it in any liqiud. I usually let it sit for a about 5 mins. If I'm doing a rasberry. I also add raspberry pucker to my cooking liquid. I just bloom it in some of that, and then add it to my sauce.
Mike
Thanks Mike, I think I've done this! 
I have never been aware of the temp of the water though...do you then have to let it solidify, and reheat before you use it, or can you use it right away? (sorry I didn't mean to hijack the thread)
Thanks Mike, I think I've done this!
I have never been aware of the temp of the water though...do you then have to let it solidify, and reheat before you use it, or can you use it right away? (sorry I didn't mean to hijack the thread)
Let it solidify, then for a whipping cream melt it in the microwave. If in a cooking liquid let the mixture come to a boil.
Mike
Mike...come on now...what's raspberry pucker??
DeKuyper Raspberry Pucker
A burst of sweet raspberry flavors followed by a mouth puckering sour. Great chilled as a shot or in your favorite drink recipies. It sold sold in most ABC stores. DeKyuper is one brand, and it will make your mouth pucker.
Mike...come on now...what's raspberry pucker??
DeKuyper Raspberry Pucker
A burst of sweet raspberry flavors followed by a mouth puckering sour. Great chilled as a shot or in your favorite drink recipies. It sold sold in most ABC stores. DeKyuper is one brand, and it will make your mouth pucker.
Thank You.
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