Tonya’s Diner: Blackberry Black Velvet Cake

By Tonya

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

  • ½ cup black cocoa powder(I had to order it from Amazon)

  • ⅓ cup of regular cocoa powder

  • 1 ⅔ cups sugar

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • ½ teaspoon baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 1 ½ cups buttermilk

  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened (not warm or hot butter, just set the butter out a couple hours beforehand so that it will be soft enough to mix well)

  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 3 large eggs

Instructions

For the cake:

  • Set out the buttermilk and eggs ahead of time so they can come closer to room temperature before mixing the batter. (This is important.)

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.

  • In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, both cocoa powders, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a whisk and set aside.

  • In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil, softened butter, vinegar, vanilla and eggs. Whisk well.

  • Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed only until the ingredients are just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again until well combined. Be careful not to mix too long or the cake will turn out dense. Stop mixing once the ingredients are well combined.

  • Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the middle of each layer comes out with a few moist crumbs on it or clean, but no raw cake batter on it.

  • Set on wire racks to cool for about ten minutes, then turn out the cake layers onto the racks and remove the pans to cool completely before assembling the cake and adding buttercream frosting.

Black Cocoa Frosting

Ingredients

  • 8 oz Cream cheese softened

  • ½ cup Unsalted butter softened

  • 3 cups Powdered sugar sifted

  • 1 cup Black cocoa powder sifted

  • ¼ teaspoon Salt

  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Inside a bowl, add softened cream cheese and butter. Sift powdered sugar, black cocoa powder, and salt. Then, use a hand mixer to beat the ingredients together until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Next, add vanilla and mix one more time to combine.

Assembly- I recommend doubling the compote recipe. Level your two cakes and spread the compote between the two layers. Frost, add blackberries to top. ENJOY!

For the Blackberry Compote

  • 2 cups (10oz/200g) blackberries fresh or frozen

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 1 tablespoons lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoons water

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Add the blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and water to a pot, stir and bring to the boil.

  • Allow it to boil for about 5 minutes, stirring often to stop it from scorching.

  • Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer and bubble for 10 minutes. It will thicken further as it cools.

  • Serve warm or allow to cool and store in a sterilised jar in the fridge for up to 5 days (or freeze for up to 2 months)

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