Chocolate Strawberry Cake

from ThePioneerWoman.com

I have a great recipe from my lovely fellow red head The Pioneer Woman.  My brother and sister-in-law are in town visiting and she loves cakes that don't have frosting.  This cake is perfect!  It's a simple chocolate sheet cake recipe with Nutella and whipped cream in place for frosting.  Add the sweetened strawberries in between layers and you've got yourself the most perfect summertime cake!

I N G R E D I E N T S

--2 sticks butter

--4 tbsp. (heaping) cocoa powder

--1 cup boiling water

--2 cups flour

--2 cups sugar

--1/4 tsp. salt

--1/2 cup buttermilk

--2 whole eggs

--1 tsp. baking soda

--1 tsp. vanilla

--1-1/2 cup Nutella

--for the Strawberries--

--2 pints strawberries, sliced

--1/4 cup sugar

--1 tsp. vanilla

--for the Whipped Cream--

--2 cups heavy cream

--1/2 cup granulated sugar

  --Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two 9" cake pans with cooking spray and line with parchment.  Set aside.  Place two sticks of butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

--Let it melt...

 --Then add 4 (heaping) tablespoons of cocoa powder into the melted butter and stir together until smooth.  Add 1 cup of water that has gotten to a boil and let it bubble up for 30 seconds, then remove from heat.

 --In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt.

--Pour the chocolate mixture in and stir it until it's about halfway combined.  If your cake mix at this point looks like it's nowhere near seeming like cake mix, that means you're doing it right!

 --In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda until it's smooth...

 --Then mix it into the chocolate/flour mixture until it all comes together.

 --Ahhhhh.  That's more like it!

 --Once it's all mixed, pour evenly into two cake pans and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until the middle doesn't jiggle.  Then let them cool on cooling racks until assembly.

--I made dinner this night as well and in the midst of things forgot to document the strawberry sweetening and whipped cream whipping.  Don't worry, the steps are very easy.
--For the Strawberries--
--In a bowl with the sliced strawberries, add in sugar and vanilla and let it macerate for about 15 minutes, then drain an excess juice.
--For the Whipped Cream--
--Combine the heavy cream and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment and beat until heavy peaks form.

--Assembly--

--Place the first cake layer down and add about 3 small ice cream scoops (3/4 cup) of Nutella and spread into a single layer.

--Then plop half the whipped cream on top and smooth it out into its own single layer.

--Add half the strawberries, and place the other cake layer upside down on top of the berries.

--Add another layer of Nutella...

--The rest of the whipped cream...

--And the rest of the strawberries!

--And eat half a piece of it before serving everyone else. 

--Repeat.