First of all, let me say that this cake is rich. Like, knock you on your butt rich. Like, drink a gallon of milk after each bite rich. But y’all. SO GOOD. The only sad thing is, I don’t really have any great pictures of the product. It’s like one of those beautiful girls who don’t photograph well. Sad, but true. Oh, and I will try to post something healthier soon. I promise.
So, the cake, You start with GOOD chocolate. I don’t care what you consider good, but don’t use the cheap-o generic stuff. Then, you melt it in brewed coffee. Let it bloom. I don’t know what that means exactly, but it sounds good and tastes even better.
Oh, and then the cocoa. My friends, chocolate is not an accent in this cake. It IS the cake.
Did I mention it also has a raspberry puree filling? No? Oh, because it does. And a ganache frosting. Which I have no pictures of. Because it was two in the morning and I was up to my eyeballs in raspberries and chocolate.
I don’t have pictures of the finished product before it was cut into and devoured. And like I said, it didn’t really photograph that well. But just trust me. It was good. So good. We almost licked the plate clean.
Double Chocolate Layer Cake
Adapted from Gourmet, March 1999 and smittenkitchen.com
The recipe below is for 3 9-inch layers filled with raspberry puree and coated in chocolate ganache. I actually made it with 2 9-inch layers and ended up throwing out some of the batter after overfilling the cake pans. So, try 9-inch pans, filled 2/3rd full. Or something 
For cake layers
3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
For ganache frosting and filling
(You could probably half this, but I didn’t. I just used the leftover and made some truffles.)
1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
Special equipment: three 9-inch round cake pans
Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper.
Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.
Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.
Make frosting:
Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.
Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency). I found that stirring this over a bowl of ice water did a great job of cooling it off quickly and evenly.
Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.
Raspberry Filling
2 10-ounce bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Puree the raspberries in a food processor, blender or immersion blender. Press the puree through a fine-mesh strainer with the back of a spoon, removing the seeds. Heat the puree in a small pot with the sugar and cornstarch until mixture boils, stirring constantly. As it boils, it should quickly thicken.
