Old Fashioned {Eggless} Layered Chocolate Cake with Balsamic Strawberries & Cream

By DOMESTICDIVA

Summary: This recipe is adapted from Cuisine at Home, taken from Barbara Bakes. This is an old fashioned eggless chocolate cake, which turns out moist and delicious. It’s a great one to make for vegetarians, or people who are allergic to eggs. Use a filling of your choice. I used seasonal strawberries to make mine.

Ingredients

• 1 Time: 1 hour
• 1 Time: 1 hour
• 2 Time: 2 hours
• Cake
• Ingredients
• 3 3 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 1 3/4 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 2 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 2 2 cups hot water
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 2 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 1 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Preparation
• Filling
• Ingredients
• 300 300ml 300ml low fat cream
• 200 200gm 200gm strawberries, chopped
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1tbsp 1tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 vanilla bean scraped
• 1-2 1-2 1-2 tbsp powdered sugar
• Preparation
• First prepare filling: Place strawberries, sugar, scraped vanilla bean and balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan, and simmer till it becomes thick and jam-like. Cool completely.
• to to to medium stiff peaks, and gently fold in cooled strawberry mixture, taking care not to release the volume of the cream.
• Chocolate Ganache
• Ingredients
• 200 200gms 200gms dark chocolate, room temperature
• 150 150ml 150ml low fat cream, room temperature
• Ganache Preparation
• 50ml the cake one basic thin coating with this ganache, and reserve some for piping decorations. Add the remaining 50ml cream and mix until smooth.

Preparation

Step 1

Preparation
Preheat oven to 180ºC with rack in the center. Line the bottom of 1 9″ spring form tin.{If you can, use two 9×2 inch round cake pans}
Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. {Don’t use a mixer.}
Combine water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined, a few lumps are OK. Turn batter into prepared tin {or divide batter between pans if using 2}, then bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes for 1 or 35-40 minutes for 2.
Cool cake on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert them onto the rack.. Leave cake upside down (this flattens domed cakes) to cool completely.
Slice into 4 layers, and sandwich with filling {recipe follows}. Allow to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes, and then frost with the chocolate ganache {recipe follows}

Ganache Preparation
Place the chocolate and 100ml of cream in a heatproof bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds {if the weather is warm as it is here, else try for minute}. You can also simmer it in pan until the chocolate melts. Stir well to combine both into a smooth ganache.
Give the cake one basic thin coating with this ganache, and reserve some for piping decorations. Add the remaining 50ml cream and mix until smooth.