Let’s celebrate
**CABBAGE & CAKE’s 1st birthday**
together with my favourite
chocolate mascarpone
layer cake!

This super chocolatey cake is made with light and airy layers of chocolate cake brushed with maple syrup, filled with a decadent creamy chocolate mascarpone cream and topped with beautiful edible flower petals from my garden and a pretty birthday candle too.

I absolutely love growing and adding edible flowers to decorate my desserts and incorporating them into my food and drinks. I think it makes everything a little extra special and magical. Check out my post about MY FAVOURITE EDIBLE FLOWERS AND HOW TO USE THEM for more inspiration on homegrown edible flowers.

This recipe will make a small three layer 6-inch cake, perfect for a little birthday celebration or a special dinner dessert. You can leave it plain and dust the top with some cocoa powder for a dramatic effect or decorate it according to your event with fresh berries, flowers and candles.

If you like this super chocolatey recipe, please make sure to also check out my delicious FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE ALMOND CAKE WITH AMARETTO AND CINNAMON and my decadent DARK CHOCOLATE TAHINI TRUFFLES RECIPE for more inspirations.

TIPS TO MAKE THE PERFECT
CHOCOLATE MASCARPONE LAYER CAKE

If you don’t have 6-inch cake pans you can also make this recipe for a two-layer cake using a springform cake pan or two 9-inch cake pans.

Use a kitchen scale if you can, to weigh your ingredients rather than measuring them in cups. This will ensure accurate ingredients and result in a great cake.

Whip the eggs super fluffy and fold in the flour really gently to avoid your cake layers from deflating.

Sift the all-purpose flour and cocoa powder through a fine mesh strainer and don’t skip this step! You don’t want to get any dense floury spots in your cake or dense cocoa ones in your mascarpone cream.

For the mascarpone cream filling keep your cream and mascarpone really cold to prevent it from splitting.

Try to buy a high-quality mascarpone cheese. I find the cheaper ones tend to have a slightly grainy texture and don’t taste as good.

If you want to add a special touch with some edible flowers, source them organically if possible and make sure they’re food grade and free from any pesticides and chemicals. Ideally these would be grown in your own garden or from a farmer’s market, selected grocery store or specialty online vendor for food grade edible flowers.

INGREDIENTS

Eggs - use fresh, medium to large eggs for this recipe.

Sugar - granulated sugar is best for the chocolate cake layers.

Flour - I prefer using all-purpose flour or substitute with white spelt flour if you’d like.

Cocoa powder - use Dutch-processed cacao for this recipe.

Mascarpone - I recommend using a high-quality mascarpone for best taste and creaminess.

Brown sugar - you can use brown sugar or substitute with coconut sugar for the mascarpone cream.

Cream - make sure to use whipping cream with at least 35% fat content.

Vanilla extract - I recommend using pure vanilla extract or paste instead of imitation vanilla to add to the chocolate mascarpone cream.

The full ingredient list with exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

MATERIALS

Hand or stand mixer
Fine mesh strainer or flour sifter
Spatula
Three 6-inch cake pans
Parchment paper
Offset spatula or icing spatula

INSTRUCTIONS STEP BY STEP

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Line three 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment attached add in eggs and sugar and whisk on medium-high speed until pale and very fluffy.

Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder through a fine mesh strainer or flour sifter.

Gently fold in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into whipped eggs until nicely combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the three pans and smooth the tops with a spatula.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cake layers to cool down in the pans for ten minutes. Cut carefully around the sides and remove the cake layers from the pans. Gently remove parchment paper if it sticks to the bottom of the cake.

Let them cool down completely on a wire rack.

To prepare the mascarpone cream, drain your chilled mascarpone if there’s any liquid on top and add it with the brown sugar, vanilla extract, the cocoa powder and 3-5 tbsps of the cream to your mixing bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment attached.

Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes until the sugar is dissolved.

Switch to your whisk attachment, add in the whipping cream and whisk on medium speed until medium peaks form. Make sure not to over whip your mascarpone cream to prevent it from splitting.

Brush your cake layers lightly with some maple syrup.

Assemble the cake by spreading about a third of your mascarpone cream onto the first layer of the cake. Place the second layer of cake on top and spread the other third of the cream evenly on the cake. Cover with the top layer.

Spread the leftover mascarpone chocolate cream over your cake with a large offset spatula.

Decorate your cake with some edible flower petals, candles or berries.

Keep your delicious and beautiful cake cool until you serve and enjoy it!