Chocolate Black Forest Strawberry Cake(Featured Chef GlutenFreeGuy)

Filling

Add strawberries, sugar and cornstarch into a heavy bottom pot. Stir to combine ingredients and prevent lumps, then heat slowly under medium heat, stirring occassionally until the mixture thickens.  Remove from stove and let cool completely.

Cake

With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F). Butter a 20-cm (8-inch) springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well. Then add all of the wet ingredients and blend really well.  The more air you whip into the cake batter the fluffier it will be.  Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.  Let cool completely before proceeding.

Frosting

In a bowl, whip all of the ingredients together with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Chocolate Garnish (optional)

In a double boiler melt chocolate to 32C stirring well. Do not heat beyond that temperature or the chocolate will come out of temper and it won't setup properly for you.  When melted, pour onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread out evenly and put in the fridge for 15 minutes or until set.

Assembly

When the cake has completely cooled, slice the cake horizontally and set the top half aside.  Pipe whipped cream along the outside of the cake and fill the centre with 1/2 of your cooled strawberry mixture.  Place top of cake back onto cake and spread a generous amount of whipped cream onto the cake and spread all over the top and sides of the cake.  Pipe a thin border along the top and then using the rest of the strawberry mixture.  Decorate with more whipped cream and strawberries. 

With the tempered chocolate, break into shards and place along the outside of the cake to create a wall around the cake.

Let setup for a few hours, then serve.