Dark chocolate cake shake: a recipe with bitter chocolate and cranberry from Mandy Merriman

Mandy Merriman joined the "Good Morning America" program on Friday to celebrate the debut of her new cookbook "I'll Bring the Cake: Recipes for Every Season and Every Occasion." The cover of Mandy Merriman's new cookbook. Harper Collins. Merriman prepared one of her favorite pastries and shared the full recipe with "GMA," along with helpful tips for beginner bakers printed below the recipe.

Dark chocolate cake with blackberry milkshake

“Have you ever gone to a café, eaten a big salad, and then wanted to treat yourself to a huge milkshake? (I’m asking for a friend.) My family loves a local restaurant called Cubby's. When we go there, I order their tri-tip steak salad, but I can’t resist getting the Hucklelala milkshake to go. It’s flavored with blackberry syrup and mixed with chunks of dark chocolate.

This dark chocolate cake with blackberry milkshake features rich layers of dark chocolate cake, flavored with a bit of the same blackberry syrup, as well as buttercream with dark chocolate blackberry crumbs.

Ingredients

• Dark chocolate cake with blackberries
• 3/4 cup of sour milk (at room temperature)
• 2/3 cup sour cream (room temperature)
• 3 large eggs, plus 1 egg white (at room temperature)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pack of dark chocolate cake
• 1/2 cup of blackberry syrup

• Butter with dark chocolate blackberry crumbs
• 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) of butter
• 1/4 cup of blackberry syrup
• 1/4 cup of sweet cream (plus more if needed)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• 8 1/2 cups powdered sugar

For decoration

• Dark chocolate chips
• Large pieces of dark chocolate

Instructions

For the dark chocolate cake with blackberries:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, then prepare three 6-inch round cake pans by greasing them with butter and dusting with flour to prevent sticking.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sour milk, sour cream, eggs, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Sift in the cocoa powder and cake mix, and stir until well combined. Be careful not to overmix.
3. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 30-32 minutes, until the center is cooked through. Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.