Copycat Olive Garden Chocolate Lasagna

Total Time: 3 hrs 50 mins Preparation Time: 3 hrs Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 6 cups cake flour
• 5 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 1/4 cups hershey's cocoa
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 12 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup water
• 4 tablespoons meringue powder
• 12 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 1/4 cups shortening
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon clear almond extract
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon colorless butter flavoring
• 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
• hershey's syrup

Recipe

• 1 heat oven to 350°f grease three 10-inch springform pans.
• 2 in mixing bowl, stir together sifted cake flour, sugar, hershey 's cocoa and baking soda. add butter and mix well. add milk, eggs and vanilla. mix thoroughly.
• 3 pour about 5 cups of the cake batter into each prepared pan. bake 40 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake center comes out clean.
• 4 cool for 10 minutes before you remove the cake from the pan, then cool completely on a wire rack.
• 5 to make buttercream filling, combine water and meringue powder; whip at high speed until peaks form. add 4 cups of sugar, one cup at a time, beating after each addition at low speed.
• 6 alternately add shortening and remainder of sugar. add salt and flavorings; beat at low speed until smooth. thin out ½ of the frosting with a little extra water. the thinned frosting is used as the filling between layers.
• 7 to assemble the cake, place one 10 inch cake on a large round plate or a large round cake platter. spread half of the thinned frosting on top, frosting only the top of the cake (not the sides). sprinkle very lightly with semi-sweet chocolate chips. (there are very few chips on this layer, usually only 1 or 2 per wedge, so sprinkle very, very lightly).
• 8 place the second cake on top of the first. frost the top with the remaining thinned frosting. sprinkle with semi-sweet chocolate chips. (you can be a bit more generous with this layer).
• 9 place the third layer on top of the second. frost the top with all of the butter cream that was not thinned. this is a thick layer of frosting so pile it on, and try to get the top as smooth as you can. sprinkle with semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• 10 to serve, cut the cake into wedges, as you would cut a pizza. using hershey's chocolate syrup, create a design on your dessert plate. place the wedge of chocolate lasagna at the 11 o'clock position on your dessert plate with the point facing down, so that you can see some of the syrup design.
• 11 note: the frosting seems more authentic if you let it set up (sit out) for an hour at room temperature. wrap the sides lightly with foil to keep the cake from drying out as well.