Strawberry Truffle Cake

After a weekend full of candy and chocolate, I thought I would keep it going with one of my all-time favourite cake recipes: the Strawberry Truffle Cake. It's so delicious and chocolatey, and honestly so easy to make! I found the recipe a few years ago when a friend of mine tried it as a birthday cake to herself, and I had wanted to try it too. It almost has more of a fudge texture, so a thin slice is dense enough to satisfy even the most intense chocolate craving.

Ingredients:
-1 box chocolate cake mix (plus ingredients called for on the box)
-1/4 cup butter
-1 1/3 cups whipping cream
-2 1/4 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
-3-4 cups fresh strawberries, diced
-6-8 fresh strawberries, cut in half

1. Mix and bake the cake according to the package instructions. Bake in a 9x13 inch pan. Let the cake cool for one hour.

2. Meanwhile, make the ganache: Add butter and cream to a small saucepan and set over medium heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the chocolate chips and turn off the heat. Let it sit for a minute of two, then stir until smooth.

3. Cut the cake in 1-inch cubes, and add half the cubes to a mixing bowl. Beat on low until cake is completely crumbly.

4. Add 1 3/4 of the ganache to the mixing bowl. Add the remaining cake cubes, and beat until throughly combined.
5. Use a wooden spoon to fold in the diced strawberries.
**6. Grab a 6-inch springform pan and line the bottom with a circle of wax paper. Spoon the mix into the pan and smooth the top until it's flat.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 45 minutes. (You don't actually want to freeze it, just firm it up).
8. Run a plastic knife around the edges of the pan and gently release the edges of the pan. Invert the cake onto a plate or cake stand and gently remove the wax paper from the now-top.
9. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the ganache. It's easier if the cake is very very cold.
10. Decorate with the strawberry halves.

**It's very important to use the wax paper! Otherwise your cake will not come out of the pan and it will fall apart when you try to take it out. Also, I don't have a springform pan, so a regular round pan is fine too.

There you go! The cake barely lasted 3 days in the fridge, and I'm sure once you make your own, you'll wanna make it a million more times.