I made this black velvet berry cake for Halloween because the colors were a great fit, but change the chocolate out to curls, or decorate with berries only and this would be a stunning cake for other holidays too.
This cake is made with black cocoa powder, which is cocoa powder that has been heavily alkalized. It has a smooth, non bitter taste, and it looks cool since you get this true black color without having to use black food coloring. It is a really moist cake and it pairs we well with berries.
The berry filling is a simple blackberry jam made by cooking down blackberries and thickening them with cornstarch (or if you don’t like cornstarch thickened items, you can also use gelatin). The frosting is a black cocoa cream cheese frosting.
I made these chocolate skulls to go with the halloween theme, but curls of chocolate would also work well here if you aren’t going for spooky.
Black Velvet Berry Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups AP flour
- 3/4 cup black cocoa
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs room temp
- 1 cup buttermilk room temp
- 1 cup hot coffee
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
For the blackberry filling:
- 4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
For the icing:
- 8 oz cream cheese room temp
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temp
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup black cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp cream or water room temp
To decorate:
- fresh berries
- chocolate curls or other shapes
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 and grease and flour 2 9-inch round baking pans. I like to use baker's joy spray which combines oil/flour. You can find a link on my favorite items page. Line the bottoms with parchment circles if you have them. This makes the cakes super easy to get out of the pan.
- Sift the cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Make a well in the flour mix and add the wet ingredients. Stir until barely combined and then add the hot coffee and mix well. Divide between the 2 plans evenly.
- Bake for 25-3 minutes until center is set and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans before removing to frost.
For the berry filling:
- Heat the berries, sugar, and lemon in a small sauce pan. Combine the water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir and cook the berries over medium low until they fall apart and are bubbling. Strain them through a mesh strainer into a clean bowl to remove the seeds.
- Return this seedless liquid to the pan and bring to a boil. Remix the cornstarch and water and add half to the pan. Stir while cooking as it thickens. You want a fairly thick filling so that it won't run out of the cake. If it is still fairly liquid, add more cornstarch until it is nearing the thickness of jam. It will set a bit more when cooled. Pour into a clean bowl and allow to cool, then refrigerate for a little while to cool it further.
For the icing:
- Cream the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer with the vanilla and salt until well mixed and fluffy, scraping down the bowl a few times. Sift the cocoa powder to remove lumps and add it and the powdered sugar and salt and whip the frosting. Add the water/cream a little at a time to help fluff up the frosting. Set aside until ready to frost.
To decorate:
- Place one of the cakes on a cake stand or plate to decorate. Place a little of the frosting in a piping bag and pipe a ring around the circle to hold in the berry filling. Spoon the filling into the center so that it fills up the ring.
- Top with the other cake. Spread the icing over the outside of the cake, covering it fully. Decorate with berries and chocolate.
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