Strawberry-Shortcake Cake (Chocolate Almond Cake)

This was a birthday cake for a dear friend's daughter who is a fan of the Strawberry Shortcake cartoon character, but loves chocolate more than anything related to actual fruits :)

Baking a chocolate cake was pretty straightforward. I used a good quality baking chocolate instead of regular cocoa powder, and made a simple whipped cream frosting with a little almond extract, instead of regular vanilla. Pardon the sub-par frosting application! The hot weather was not helping my lackluster skills.

Ingredients:

1. 1.25 cups all purpose flour
2. 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/2 cup butter)
3. 1 cup sugar
4. 1/2 cup finely chopped or grated baking chocolate (semi-sweet)
5. 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder (to intensify the taste of the chocolate)
6. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
7. 2 eggs, at room temperature
8. 3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
9. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

1.  1/2 cup whipping cream
2.  3-4 tablespoons sugar (lessen the quantity for adults)
3. 1 teaspoon almond extract
4. a few drops of food coloring of your choice (red and green in this case)

Preparation:

1. Butter and flour a 9 inch cake pan. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. In a microwave safe bowl, add chocolate shavings, butter, and coffee powder. Microwave on high at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate just melts. Stir to make the melted chocolate smooth
3. Mix the dry ingredients separately - flour and baking soda
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together until smooth. 
5. Add sugar and whisk into the eggs 
6. Add the melted chocolate mixture, and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth
7. Add half the milk and whisk until mixed
8. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix gently with a spatula
9. Add the remaining milk and mix with a spatula
10. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix gently with a spatula until just mixed
11. Transfer batter to the cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. 
12. Cool the cake by placing the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges and loosen the cake. Invert cake onto a serving platter
13. Prepare frosting
1. Make sure the whipping cream is really cold. The bowl you will be using to whip the cream should be chilled in the freezer for about 30 minutes for a really nice consistency
2. Add the cream to the bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Add sugar and almond extract and whip until stiff peaks form. 
3. Add a few drops of food coloring to separate portions of the frosting and mix gently with a spatula
14. Spread frosting over cake (make sure the cake is at room temperature). Decorate as per your liking 

Refrigerate until it's time to serve