Wednesday is Fritz’s birthday!
We have a tradition every year in which I make a new kind of birthday cake–it’s a fun occasion for me to bake something extravagant and decadent, and to try something new. This year he requested a black forest cake, but since I know he doesn’t like cherries I adapted his idea to something similar (but probably more delicious)!
For his past birthdays I’ve made:
22nd–Reese’s peanut butter chocolate cake;
23rd–Cheesecake with strawberry topping;
24th–Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting;
25th–Pineapple upside-down cake;
…and now:
It’s a ridiculous three-layer chocolate cake with strawberry filling (and fresh strawberries) covered in whipped chocolate ganache–and it was so much fun to make.
I wasn’t going to blog it at all, but once I saw the three cake layers just sitting there, I couldn’t resist. I didn’t adapt the recipe at all (except that I whipped the ganache, didn’t puree the strawberry filling, and added a layer of fresh strawberries into each strawberry layer), so I’m not going to repost it–but here’s the original site from Baking Junkie.
And here, my friends, is where it all began:
Now let’s add some strawberries:
Another cake layer:
And some more strawberries:
Of course we need that last layer of cake:
And then we slather it all over with whipped ganache:
Top it off with some sliced strawberries and chopped chocolate:
I’m pretty excited to try this cake–but we are waiting for Fritz’s actual birthday to slice into this bad boy. For now, it’s sitting in the freezer ready to be defrosted Wednesday afternoon (hopefully it’ll be just as good). That’s not to say that Fritz didn’t get to enjoy an early birthday present–he got to lick the bowls.
We also received a box from my parents with presents! Needless to say, it did not contain an evil cat when it arrived.
What’s your favorite kind of birthday cake? I used to hate cake when I was a kid so my mom always made me “dirt cake” with pudding, Oreo crumbs, and gummy worms.
Hmm…maybe that will be next year’s cake for Fritz!
OMG LAUREN YOU ARE AMAZING!!! FRITZ IS SO LUCKY…perhaps you should open a bakery on the side 🙂 love you! looks like it could be in some chic NYC shop!
haha thanks! you open the shop, I’ll bake the cakes–we can have a cute little vintage bakery counter in your jewelry shop 🙂
For next year I have a torte you can make, with 23 layers or something. It’s awesome, and a work of art. You bake thin layers on the back of cookie sheets or something…I’d have to look it up. I think it’s Hungarian. 🙂
Looks amazing!! I viewed the attached site that you provided, and I’d have to say that your cake looks more inviting ~ however, I NEVER turn down chocolate cake!
Will definitely try this!
Everyone out there reading this-this cake was seriously amazing! MAKE IT. You will not regret it 🙂 Thanks for an amazing dinner & dessert last night!
Hi Lauren!
First time reader (I found you through Pinterest).
That cake looks delish!
Also I was wondering if you’d be keen to enter a photo of Henry for a Pet Photo Post I’m doing. Our cat adores boxes as well. http://www.lifeofsomethingnew.com/2011/04/pet-partaay.html
Thanks for a great recipe!
happy (belated) birthday to Fritz!!
Enjoyed (and took notes) reading through your blog. What fun you make cooking seem 🙂
Would you be okay sharing the recipe for the ganache?
I love that you took notes! Let me know what recipes you try! I’m pretty sure that I used the ganache recipe from baking junkie’s original post: http://www.bakingjunkie.com/2011/02/triple-layer-chocolate-cake-with-strawberry-filling/, but once the frosting was chilled, I put it in my mixer and whipped it to have whipped ganache (lighter, fluffier) than regular ganache. Is that still considered ganache? Not sure 🙂
This looks amazing!! I’m just wondering… can I make the 3 cake layers the night before I’m going to serve it and refrigerate them overnight and then assemble them with the filling and ganache the next day? Or do I have to freeze and defrost the layers?
Sorry that I didn’t answer earlier–I’ve been out of power! However, I didn’t try freezing them but I think refrigerating the cake layers the night before would be totally fine, just wrap them well so they don’t dry out!
Thank you!! I hope you get your power back soon =)