Chocolate Layer Cake with Creme Chantilly Frosting

Preheat oven to 325˚F with the rack in the bottom third of the oven. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup cocoa and 1/2 cup boiling water. Add in the 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup buttermilk and 2 tsp vanilla. Add 6 yolks and whisk until smooth.

In a separate large mixing bowl, sift together 1 3/4 cups cake flour and 2 tsp baking powder. Sprinkle in 1 tsp sea salt. Whisk in 1 1/4 cups brown sugar breaking up any clumps.

Combine the chocolate batter with the sifted dry ingredients and mix just until smooth (don't overmix,... or else).

Add egg whites to the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes until frothy. Add 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and beat another 2 minutes on medium-high speed until whites have soft peaks. Turn the mixer up to high speed and add 1/2 cup sugar in a slow steady stream. Continue mixing on high speed another two minutes until your meringue has stiff shiny peaks.

Use a spatula to fold the white meringue mixture into your batter adding about 1/3 of the meringue at at time.

Pour batter into your un-greased baking pan (I prefer using the springform pan) and bake in the bottom third of the oven at 325˚F for 55 min or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center come out clean. Remove cake to a wire rack and let cool to room temp before removing the cake from the pan or cutting into it.

Once cake is at room temp, slice it into three layers. Its a good idea to trace around the cake with a knife before slicing through; this ensures more even cake layers. Re-stack and cover the layers with plastic wrap until ready to frost so they don't dry out.

Whip the heavy cream at high speed until soft peaks form (1 minute).

Add 1/3 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and continue whipping at high speed until stiff peaks form and the frosting is smooth (about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes). Don't over-beat the frosting or it will turn buttery.

Place the bottom layer on your serving platter and top with 1/3 of your frosting. Repeat with the second and third layer, and top with the remaining frosting; swirl it around on the top to make it look like waves in the sea. Decorate the top with raspberries or whatever fruit you have. I arranged them starting from the outside and spiraling inward until the entire top was plastered with raspberries.