Three Layer Chocolate Cake
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Ingredients You'll Need
Un-sweetened cocoa powder for dusting
1/2 pound un-sweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. un-salted butter
2 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
6 large egg yolks
3 cups sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 18 oz. jar raspberry preserves
Ganache
Directions
Preheat oven to 325°.
Butter three 9" cake pans and line the bottoms with baking paper, butter the paper and dust the pans with cocoa and tap out the excess.
In a small saucepan, melt the coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter over low heat and let cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt together. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and one cup of the sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add the cooled chocolate and the vanilla and mix until blended. Gradually beat in half of the buttermilk. In a bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the rest of the buttermilk and add to the chocolate batter along with the rest of the sugar and beat at medium speed until combined. Add the rest of the dry ingrediants and beat at moderately low speed until combined.
Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Bake on the lower and middle racks in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Take the cakes out of the oven and allow to cool for five minutes. Invert the cakes onto a cooling rack and lift off the cake pans and remove the paper, then invert the cakes again and allow them to cool completely.
Put the raspberry preserves into a small saucepan and heat slowly, being careful not to burn it. Cut small slits into the tops of each layer and spoon the warm preserves equally over each layer. Allow this to cool fully by refrigerating the layers for 5-10 minutes.
Place 1 cake layer on a cake plate, raspberry side up. Spread the top of the cake with half of the whipped chilled ganache. Top with another cake layer and spread with the remaining whipped ganache. Set the third cake layer on top. Spread most of the reserved unwhipped ganache on the top and side of the cake and refrigerate until just set, about 10 minutes. Spread the remaining unwhipped ganache all over the cake. Refrigerate the cake for 20 minutes before serving, or if you make the cake ahead, bring to room temperature before serving.