Valentines Day Part II: Thesis Procrastination, or Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Glaze and Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

This afternoon, I was supposed to work on my thesis. I planned to get home from work and immediately head to the library to write.  

During work at the preschool this morning, we decorated some of the plain Valentines Day cookies we made yesterday. 

I decorated a couple of them too.

 When I got home from work I realized that I did not, in fact, want to edit and finish writing the 10 pages of my thesis for my advisor. So, against all better judgement, I decided to make a cake. A big cake. An Epic Valentines Day Cake.

Of course, I used my chocolate cake recipe, as it never ever fails.  I doubled it, and put it into two cake pans--one square, one round.  The diameter of the round pan was equal to one side of the square pan. while the cake was baking, I made the frosting.

(Pink) Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

• Pink food coloring
• Butter (a stick or so)
• Vanilla extract (maybe a tsp?)
• Milk (depending on texture)
• Powdered sugar (a pound or two...depending on how much you want to make)
• Raspberry jam, to taste
• Lemon zest (1/2 tsp? It takes the edge off of over sweet buttercream frosting)

Soften the butter, and whip with the electric mixer until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, and then slowly add the powdered sugar, mixing with the electric mixer after each addition. Add milk, food coloring, lemon zest, raspberry jam, and more powdered sugar until the frosting is at the desired consistency and flavor.

When the cakes were out of the oven and had cooled, I turned both of them over onto a large cutting board. I cut the circle one in half, and "glued" it to the square with frosting. I then glazed the cake with some raspberry jam.   

Then, I frosted it pink. (I used aluminum foil to protect the serving board from frosting drips....)

I should have stopped there. I sat down at my computer, and wrote a sentence or two. I looked at the cake. I realized that I had a lot of frosting left over--why not decorate it more?  I added more pink food coloring, and some powdered sugar to make the frosting more stiff.  I cut a hole in the corner of a ziplock bag, and piped around the edges.