There's nothing like a little friendly competition, right? Since joining us at ChickAdvisor, our newest co-op Shannon has been bragging about her culinary skills. Obviously, being the resident CA baker, I took offence. Word to the wise: no creeping in on my territory. So, this past week, after a month or so of trash talking each other, Shannon and I decided to put our chops to the test in a bake off! 

The rules were simple: we each had to come up with a baked dessert that featured a berry. Any berry, any dessert. Then we'd present our dishes to the rest of the CA staff to test and they'd declare a winner. 
 
I got to work with a recipe for flourless chocolate cake that I adapted with puréed and whole raspberries. 

The recipe is super simple and the great thing about it is that you can substitute the raspberries for any other flavour. The original recipe calls for espresso but you could do peanut butter or anything your little heart desires! 

Here's what you need: 

567 g Dark Chocolate (around 2 bags of chocolate chips)
454 g Unsalted Butter (1 whole stick) 
1 Cup Sugar
7 Eggs
1 Pint Pureed Raspberries, 1 Pint Whole 
Pinch of Sugar 

How To: 

1. Melt chocolate and butter together using double broiler method, when finished melting, set aside

2. Pour sugar into eggs 

3. Whisk together eggs and sugar and slowly, in small batches, pour into chocolate mixture

4. In a small pot with about 1 inch of water (enough to cover raspberries), cook down one pint until soft

5. Puree in blender 
 
6. Add puree to chocolate mixture, then drop in whole raspberries 

7. Incorporate all the raspberries 

8. Spray and line baking pan and pour in
 
9. Bake for about 60-75 minutes in 350F oven and cool overnight, serve at room temperature
 
Original recipe calls for 40-55 minutes in oven but I found this not long enough at all 
 
Final Product: 
 

This is a gooey dessert that just melts in your mouth! 

Shannon went in the opposite direction and created a buttermilk cake! Here's her recipe: 

I decided to create a blackberry buttermilk cake, with toasted walnuts and maple caramel sauce on top. I also added a blackberry sauce and whipped cream that really takes this dessert to the next level.

If you're feeling like you're up for a challenge, go ahead and make the sauce and whipped cream too, but this is still a delicious dessert even without the extras! 
 
Here's what you need: 
 
Cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda, heaping
1/8 tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into pieces
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk at room temperature
1 cup blackberries
 
Blackberry Sauce 
3/4 cup blackberries
1/4 cup of water
4 Tbsp white sugar 

Blackberry Whipped Cream 
35% whipping cream
Blackberry sauce 
1/3 cup white sugar 

Icing 
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp of maple syrup 
1/3 cup walnut halves, toasted and chopped

How- To: 
 

1. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside (image via

2. For one minute, beat butter with a spatula until creamy 
 
3. Mix brown sugar with butter

4. Add the egg into mixture

5. Add the flour mixture in two additions

6. Alternate the flour mixture with the buttermilk ie) flour, milk, flour, milk. Begin and end with flour mixture

7. Pour mixture into pan

8. Sprinkle berries on top, they will sink into the batter while cooking
 
9. Make the blackberry sauce by combining ingredients into a pan and let it come to a boil, until the berries have reduced thoroughly, between 10-15 minutes. Strain what is in the pan to get a nice smooth sauce

10. Toast your walnuts on medium heat in a pan until they have some colour. Chop them up after they've cooled down a bit

11. Create your whipped cream by mixing up some 35% whipping cream with a hand blender, and add sugar as you whip the cream. To make it a "blackberry" whipped cream, add some of the blackberry sauce you just created to give it a nice light purple colour

12. Create your caramel sauce by combining brown sugar, butter and cream in small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer for 1 minute, whisking frequently. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla, confectioners' sugar and maple syrup until smooth and fluid

For the final product, drizzle the icing with a spoon all over top of cake, then quickly sprinkle walnuts so that they stay in place. Plate with some of the whipped cream and blackberry sauce. Enjoy! 

Final Product: 


(recipe adapted via driscolls.com)

Who do you think won this challenge?