Allergy Friendly + Gluten Free + Vegan - Dark Chocolate Berry Cake Recipe

Sweet chocolate and fresh berries, yum! This decadent cake is easy to bake with our step by step guide.
 
Prep Time: 2 hours minutes
Cook Time: 30 -35 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes, including cooling (2 hours inactive)
Makes: 1 3-tier 8" cake

Ingredients
 

FOR THE CAKE

4 ½ cups (1.5 x 17 oz packs) Hungry Harry's Chocolate Cake Mix

3 eggs, or egg replacers

1 1/2 cups milk of choice

3/4 cup oil of choice (note: if using an oil that's solid at cool temperatures, like coconut oil, melt the oil before beginning this recipe)

1 1/2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract

 

For the Frosting

2 cups non-dairy, allergy-friendly butter

7 cups confectioner's sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 teaspoons instant espresso

1/2 teaspoons salt

 

For the Decorations

1 quart berries (we used strawberries, sliced ¼” thick)

6 oz allergy friendly dark chocolate chips

3 - 4 small party balloons


How-To

For the Cake

Preheat your oven to 360°F.

Combine the Hungry Harry's Chocolate Cake mix, eggs or egg replacers, milk, oil, and vanilla.

Mix well until combined.

Pour the cake batter into 3 8" cake pans, greased with your favorite oil.

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

Cool the cakes completely before decorating, approximately 2 hours. While waiting for the cakes to cool, assemble the remaining components.

For the Frosting

Using an electric mixer, whip cold vegan butter on low speed. Slowly add the remaining ingredients until incorporated, then turn the mixer to high speed and whip until light and fluffy. Set aside at room temperature until ready to use. Do not refrigerate or leave in a warm spot, so the frosting doesn’t get too hard to spread or melt.

For the Chocolate Bowls

Blow up the balloons about halfway to capacity - you don't want them too full, or they'll break the chocolate bowls on release. Melt the chocolate to 80 - 85 degrees F, and dunk the balloons in the chocolate. Sit the balloons on parchment paper until the chocolate hardens, then very slowly release the air from the balloons (without spilling the water inside) until they come free of the chocolate bowl. Set aside in a cool place until ready to use.

For the Chocolate Shards

Pour the remaining melted chocolate onto a clean sheet of parchment paper and smooth with a knife or small offset spatula. Allow it to cool and harden, then use a knife to break off shards of the chocolate

Smooth melted chocolate onto parchment and let sit, then use a knife to break shards of chocolate off and place on cake

To Assemble

Ingredients:

3x round 8” layers baked Hungry Harry’s Chocolate Cake

2 cups berries of your choosing, prepared (all berries should be washed and stems removed, strawberries should be sliced ¼” thick, and blackberries should be halved. Anything smaller than a blackberry can be used whole.

Chocolate bowls

Chocolate shards

Prepared chocolate frosting

Carefully slice the dome tops off of two of the cakes. Place one of the topless cakes on a plate bottom side up, and place 1/2 cup of chocolate frosting on top of it. Spread the frosting evenly on the cake with a large offset spatula. (If you’d like, you can arrange sliced berries on top of the frosting before moving on to the next step.) Top with the second topless cake, bottom side up. Repeat the process, spreading 1/2 cup of chocolate frosting evenly on top of the cake. Top with the final cake round, again spreading 1/2 cup of chocolate frosting evenly on top of it.

Use the remainder of the frosting for the sides of the cake, using your offset spatula to spread the chocolate frosting onto the sides.

Carefully place the chocolate bowls and shards on top of the cake, and fill the bowls with berries. Slice and serve!