Beat the first 5 ingredients in an electric mixer for about 2 minutes or until blended.

Grease 3 parchment or wax-paper lined round cake pans. Lightly flour each and then tap out excess flour. Pour cake batter into pans and bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center of each. Cool cake layers in pans on top of wire racks for about 15-20 minutes. Carefully flip each one to remove each cake layer and remove the wax or parchment paper underneath. Transfer each cake layer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Combine semisweet chocolate and whipping cream in a medium saucepan and heat on medium. whisking constantly until smooth. This will take about 10 minutes. Trransfer to a mixing bowl , cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 1/2 hours until the mixture begins to thicken.

(If you have a cake cutter, I usually cut each cake layer''s top rounded edge off to make it nice and flat for aesthetic reasons. If you do not have one, it is perfectly fine to omit this step).

Cook both jams and 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium heat, and stir constantly until jam melts, about 5 minutes. Brush tops of your cake layers with this jam mixture.

Once chocolate has cooled completely in refrigerator and has thickened, beat this chocolate chilled mixture in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (you shouldn''t need more than a minute).

Place 1 layer glazed side up on cake platter. Spread half of your chocolate mixture onto this cake layer. Place 2nd cake layer glazed side down on top of chilled chocolate layer. Spread remaining chocolate mixture. Top with the last cake layer glazed side down.

To make cream cheese frosting:

Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed. Add whipped topping and vanilla and beat until smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally to ensure everything is evenly mixed. Work very quickly when frosting top and sides of cake with the cream cheese mixture. Press your toasted pecans around the sides of the cake and garnish with fresh berries on top. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

****For those with nut allergies, I have also made this cake and replaced the toasted pecans with shaved chocolate curls. Both ways look very pretty and are very tasty.