Chocolate Raspberry Pancake Cake

Cakes are hard work. Not only do you dirty a ton of dishes just to get the batter made, cakes baked, and frosting completed, but then you have to assemble and decorate the cake and hope it looks half as good as the photo.

Luckily I learned some cake decorating skills in culinary school (see a video for cake decorating here). But to be perfectly honest, I barely have enough patience for an entire cake, let alone spending tedious time decorating it.

That’s why you’ll find me so often making cupcakes instead. So much quicker and easier.

However, I recently saw a pancake cake on Snapchat that completely captured my attention. I sooo wish I could remember when / where / who posted it but oh well. I’ll snap up that inspiration because this is such a completely fun and impressive treat that requires far less time and work than a full layer cake. Yay!

I hope you’ll try out this recipe for the next birthday among your friends or family. Imagine how fun it would be to wake up to this!!

By the way, as always, if you upload any photos of my recipes to Instagram be sure to tag them #handletheheat. I love to look at all the photos with that tag!

How to make

Chocolate Raspberry Pancake Cake

Yield: 2 - 5-layer pancake cakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Chocolate Raspberry Pancake Cake features homemade double chocolate pancakes between layers of fresh raspberry whipped cream for a beautifully impressive breakfast treat.

Ingredients

For the raspberry whipped cream:

• 4 ounces (113 grams) fresh raspberries, plus more for garnish
• 3/4 cup (179 grams) heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the pancakes:

• 1 1/3 cups (170 grams) all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 3 tablespoons (43 grams) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for cooking
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups (284 grams) whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup (85 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

For serving:

• Powdered sugar, for dusting
• Semisweet chocolate, melted

Directions

Make the whipped cream:

1. Place the raspberries in the bowl of a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Pass through a fine mesh strainer to remove and discard seeds.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Gently fold in the raspberry puree. Set aside.

Make the pancakes:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and whisk until combined. The batter will be lumpy. Stir in the chocolate chips.
2. Heat a griddle over medium heat and lightly grease with butter.
3. Use a 1/4-cup measuring cup to scoop batter onto the griddle. Cook until pancakes have bubbles on the top, then flip them over and cook for an additional minute. Repeat with the remaining batter.
4. Stack the pancakes, spreading about 3 heaping teaspoons of whipped cream on top of each one. Garnish with powdered sugar and additional raspberries, if desired.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #handletheheat so we can all see!

Recipe by Tessa Arias