<p>Spawn gets to choose his birthday cake. This year, he has requested a chocolate cake with strawberry icing, with fresh strawberries on top. He did not specify what kind of chocolate cake, so I’m thinking maybe a dense flourless chocolate cake would be good, paired with a very light, not over-sweet strawberry icing.</p>
<p>Not that I have ever made either one of these foods before, so I turn to you for help! Does anyone have a tried-and-true flourless chocolate cake recipe to share? Or a light, not-too-sweet strawberry icing recipe? Or both? Please?</p>
<p>TIA!!</p>
<p>(For his 14th birthday, the cake recipe I used started with the instructions “Boil two oranges,” which was, I must confess, a first for me, and which I think would make a fine book title!)</p>
<p>If I were making a chocolate cake with strawberries, I would not choose a dense flourless cake. I’d want the texture of the fresh strawberries to stand out, which wouldn’t happen with the dense fudgy flourless cake.</p>
<p>I would make a more standard chocolate layer cake. I’d use a strawberry filling (perhaps just strawberry jam, or maybe cooked strawberries with a little sugar added if the jam seemed too sweet) and I’d ice the cake with whipped cream. Then I’d pile on the strawberries. Yum. If Spawn wanted a more strawberryish icing for the outside of the cake, I’d whip the cream and fold in crushed strawberries with a little sugar.</p>
<p>But one can’t go wrong with any chocolate cake with strawberries.</p>
<p>vballmom, the Black Magic recipe is originally from a “Hershey’s Homemade” cookbook that is at least 20 years old. It is a great recipe, my very favorite chocolate cake.</p>
<p>If you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute a tablespoon of vinegar plus milk to equal one cup.</p>
<p>The coffee can be instant espresso but doesn’t have to be.</p>
<p>vballlmom, they used to send you that book free (or almost free) if you sent in a few bar codes from baking chocolate bars.</p>
<p>I have copied the sour cream choc. cake recipe. Sounds great. I’ll be sure to put in an extra mile or two on the treadmill before I make that thing, though.</p>
<p>I just made this cake this week for my birthday. Yes, I make my own cake. This recipe seems to me to be almost exactly the same as the Black Magic cake recipe–which means Ina Garten has some explaining to do. It is really a marvelous cake–and it’s even better with cream cheese frosting. I bet you could adapt a cream cheese frosting recipe to have some strawberry flavor. I do love flourless chocolate cake, but I’ve never had one frosted with anything other than ganache. </p>
<p>Chocolate Mousse Cake (a flourless choc cake - NOT A DIET RECIPE!!!)</p>
<p>16 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate squares (I’ve also used unsweetened choc squares…and it’s sweet enough because of the sugar that’s added.)
2 cups butter (4 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 cup half and half
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 large eggs</p>
<p>Preheat over to 350F. Grease 10" x 3" springform pan. Heat Chocolate, butter, sugar, half and half, vanilla and salt over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly.</p>
<p>In large bowl, beat eggs slightly. Beat chocolate mixture into eggs. Pour into springform pan.</p>
<p>Bake 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2" from edge comes out clean Cool completely on wire rack before removing pan.</p>
<p>This cake calls for a chocolate glaze, I never use it. It’s rich enough as is! </p>
<p>For the strawberry part, I’d put a layer of strawberry jam on the top (will spread better if cake has been chilled.) Cover with whip cream. Decorate with strawberries.</p>
<p>I have a more cake-like recipe that’s a “doctored” devils food cake mix recipe…if you want that ,too!</p>
<p>owl, I made a strawberry chocolate cake for boyfriend’s son’s birthday. I am not the biggest fan of standard chocolate cake, but love the ease of the one in Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant-Perfect Chocolate Cake. Uses cocoa powder and no special ingredients aside from standard eggs, flour, etc. Make 2 or 3 layers. For this purpose, ignore the amazing chocolate buttercream frosting that come with the recipe. </p>
<p>Then-mash strawberries with a little sugar and fold into whipped cream for the filling. The cream is made a little more sturdy with the addition of a little softened cream cheese early in the whipping. I like to slather mashed, runny strawberries on each layer to add flavor before filling and stacking layers. I made a standard chocolate icing, and studded the top with halved strawberries. </p>
<p>But you could also use any icing for the sides, chocolate or white, and then make a topping for the cake similar to the filling for strawberry pies-mashed strawberries, sugar and corn starch, cooked till thick. If sufficiently thick, and spread carefully, would cover the top of the cake. </p>
<p>All the above recipes for flourless cake sound wonderful!</p>
<p>^the mashed strawberries folded into fresh whipped cream (heavy cream, a little sugar, and a splash on natural vanilla flavoring) is a delicious way to go. One of our favorite cakes when we were kids was a simple 2 layer yellow sponge cake with the mashed strawberries and whipped cream mixture as the filling. It was then topped with fresh whipped cream and then fresh split strawberries were put on top of the white whipped cream. Yum.</p>
<p>nysmile sounds a lot like strawberry shortcake with a yellow cake instead of biscuits. Strawberry shortcake is one of my favorite desserts, unfortunately S2 finds he can’t digest large quantities of whip cream.</p>
<p>owlice, your idea sounds great. I’d try looking in the Silver Palate cookbook (the original one, which has been reprinted). Williams-Sonoma might also have such a recipe online.</p>
<p>mathmom, it sure is a lot like strawberry shortcake but sweeter. Back then, most people around here didn’t consider anything a strawberry shortcake unless it was made out of the Bisquick biscuit mix. As kids, we much preferred the yellow cake version with cream and strawberries. The adults seemed to prefer the traditional shortcake (biscuit) recipe.</p>
<p>My birthday is at the end of November–way past the the local strawberry season. I would always request a chocolate devils food cake with the 2 layers cut into 4 thin layers and filled with fresh whipped cream. Then it would be frosted with chocolate frosting. Good thing we were active skinny kids.</p>
<p>A favorite in our family is Washington Pie (which is not a pie) made with raspberry preserves. Our version is simply 2 layers of good yellow cake with raspberry preserves spread between them (the cake absorbs much of the preserves, making a yummy streak in the middle) and a simple dusting of confectioners sugar on top just before serving.</p>
<p>This would be good made with moist chocolate cake and strawberry preserves.</p>
<p>And while you’re looking in the Silver Palate cookbook, the chocolate mousse is to DIE for. DH makes huge batches every year for his department’s holiday party and tops it off with Grand Marnier whipped cream.</p>
You can do a box mix or whatever you’re comfortable with, and add in a pint of ice cream to the batter. It makes the cake extra moist. Here is where I found out about literal ice cream cakes: [Omnomicon</a> makes recipe: ice cream cake (but not like you think)](<a href=“