Chocolate Blackberry Cake – Dark chocolate cake layers with blackberry compote and blackberry buttercream.
Chocolate Blackberry Cake
I’ve been wanting to make a blackberry buttercream for the longest time! My Gluten Free Cake with Mixed Berry Compote and Buttercream is one of my all-time favorite cakes. I knew the format for the compote and frosting would work great with blackberries but I thought the cakes would be too similar if I did a vanilla cake with the blackberry buttercream, so I made my moist chocolate cake. It’s my go-to, absolute favorite chocolate cake recipe. You’ll see it all over the blog because I love it so much.
The pairing of the sweet blackberry buttercream with the bittersweet chocolate cake layers is so decadent!
Chocolate Cake Layer with Bake Even Strips
You’ll see below that these chocolate cake layers turned out extra fudgy. I think this happened because I used new bake even strips. They did help my cakes to bake a little more flat, but it took an extra 10 minutes to bake and they turned out more brownie-like. Not sure I’ll sue them again on this particular chocolate cake recipe.
HOW TO MAKE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
To get a light and fluffy homemade buttercream frosting, make sure you follow my tips over at: HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BUTTERCREAM
These steps are written up for my vanilla buttercream, but are supposed to be applied to any of my buttercream recipes.
- Sift your powdered sugar
- Use slightly cold butter
- Use heavy whipping cream
- Beat for 5 minutes
- Stir by hand
You’ll want to check out the post linked above for more details on each step.
How to Cake It
Other Cakes You’ll Love
- Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Cake
- Strawberry Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake
- Chocolate Strawberry Swiss Roll
Chocolate Blackberry Cake
Dark chocolate cake layers with blackberry compote and blackberry buttercream.
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cups (88.5 g) dark cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
- 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) baking powder
- 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (110 g) vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (236.6 g) hot water
FOR THE COMPOTE
- 3 cups (360 g) blackberries
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (8.12 g) cornstarch sifted
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter slightly chilled
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar measured and then sifted
- 1/3 cup (77 g) strained blackberry juice from compote above
- 3 tablespoons (43.3 g) heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping, you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
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Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray four 6-inch pans or three 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, then spray the pans again.
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Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
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In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, water and vanilla.
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With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
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Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
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Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
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Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until ready to use. You’re still going to want to level your cake layers to ensure a completely even surface for frosting and stacking.
FOR THE COMPOTE
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Combine the blackberries and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir the mixture while bringing it to a boil and occasionally breaking up the berries to release their juices.
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Add the cornstarch.
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Let simmer for about 10 minutes until the mixture is reduced by half. (We’re trying to reduce the amount of water and thicken the mixture.)
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Strain 1/2 cup of the mixture and reserve for frosting. Refrigerate the strained blackberry mixture and the remaining compote for at least 4 hours before using.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
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With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar, followed by the blackberry juice, heavy cream, vanilla extract and dash of salt.
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Continue to beat the frosting on medium-high speed for an additional 5 minutes.
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Before frosting your cake, mix the frosting by hand with a wooden spoon to push out the air pockets. This will also help the frosting pull back together if it looks separated from adding the blackberry juices.
ASSEMBLY
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Spread a dollop of frosting on a cake board or cake plate to hold the first cake layer in place.
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Place the first cake layer, top side up, on the cake board and pipe a rim of blackberry frosting around the edges to act as a barrier to the compote. For the 6-inch round cake, spread about 1/4 cup blackberry compote on the cake layer. For an 8-inch cake, spread 1/2 cup blackberry compote on the cake layer.
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Top with the next cake layer and repeat step 2.
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Place the final cake layer top side down. Apply a thin layer of frosting around the entire cake to lock in the crumbs. Freeze the cake for about 10 to 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
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If your frosting feels soft at this point, refrigerate it while the crumb coat sets.
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Continue frosting your cake, making sure to stir the frosting with a wooden spoon to push out any air pockets.
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If you’re not serving within the day, you can freeze the cake in a cake box or container for up to a week – just make sure to remove the cake from the freezer about 6 hours before you plan to serve it.
I don’t usually put a little layer of buttercream down before I add the compote, but it does make sense.. wouldnt it make it to slippery? Please tell me why you do that!! Thank you Karen
I do it so the filling doesn’t seep into my cake layers. I want it to be it’s own layer in the cake. If you pipe rim around the edge of the cake before placing a second cake layer on top, it will help prevent it from sliding around.
Hey Courtney! It looks like you are putting fresh blackberries on top of the compote in the video? Is this correct?
Yes!
Could frozen blackberries be used to make compote?
Would I be able to convert this recipe to use two 9-inch round cake pans instead?
yes.
How deep are the 6inch tins? I own 6 inch round 3 inch deep. Would this recipe suit these tins? If so how many layers?
Four 6-inch layers.
Do you put a thin layer of buttercream on the layer under the compote? It looks like it in the picture, but the steps don’t mention it. Thanks!
Yes!
Hi Courtney,
I love your recipes, you are so creative! What size height pans do you use 2 or 3 inches. Some of your recipe cakes looks quite high so I was wandering if those are 3inches high pans?
Thank you,
Mel
2 inches!