Chocolate Cake...(without the cup)

It was almost a year ago that I ventured out to become a cupcake pro and over this past year I have had many failed attempts and successes at cakes and icings. But today I took on a new challenge, a cake, not baked in a cup!

I have never been a cake baker and always have looked on with envy at these beautiful cakes that you see in pastry shop windows. Like the ones that look like they belong in a shop in some bakery on the streets of Paris, covered in chocolate and other delicacies and oh so tempting....
I figured though if I can do a cupcake, I can do a cake...right? To make matters easier I took my chocolate cupcake recipe and my buttercream icing, same just bigger I figured!

I had a vision of a chocolate cake with perfectly placed berries on top and a oh so yummy strawberry filling, here is what I got....

Not so bad to look at, but will it taste good? Don't ask me,  I have made this for my Husbands work party and I wont even get to try it! The pressure is on though, this isn't my family I am baking for... Actually, it has just dawned on me, THIS ISN'T MY FAMILY I BAKED THIS FOR... Yikes!! Fingers crossed it tastes as good as it looks.

If you are interested in creating this chocolate cake then follow my chocolate cupcakes posting from last July. The only difference is that I cooked the cake for 25 minutes instead of the 20 that I usually do the cupcakes for.

I also added a strawberry filling, super easy!

1 cup strawberries all blended up.

Cook these in a pot with 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar.

Bring to a light boil.

Mix together about 2 TBSP cornstarch with 1 cup water, slowly add this until it gets thick and gooey.

Cool down

Then chop up some strawberries and add these to the cooked strawberry goo! Put in the fridge until ready to fill.

Once the cake has cooled you slice it in half, to create the top and bottom. (very slowly and carefully in my case!)

I put a very thin layer of buttercream on the top of the bottom half of the cake, so the strawberry filling wouldnt soak through too much.

Then I put a bit of my buttercream in the piping bag and piped a border around the edge of the bottom half, so as the strawberry filling wouldnt ooze out.

Then I put the strawberry filling on thick.

Then I slapped the top half on, buttercreamed the whole thing up and licked the spatula after!

I grated some chocolate on for decoration, and who doesn't like extra chocolate??

I also mixed my blueberries and strawberries for on top with a bit of sugar, so when I placed them on top they would be all shiny and sticky.

And voila! I dont know about Paris worthy, but it will do :)