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Excellent for Valentine’s Day, this chocolate strawberry cake combines wealthy and fudgy chocolate cake with a vivid (and all-natural!) strawberry frosting. Add a ganache drip for much more decadence! Recipe features a how-to video!
Chocolate Lined Strawberry Cake
This chocolate strawberry cake is right here simply in time for Valentine’s Day! It has three layers of moist, wealthy chocolate cake recipe with a thick, creamy, and vibrant strawberry frosting. A chocolate ganache drizzle on high provides decadence and actually sells the chocolate coated strawberry vibe.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Tremendous straightforward cake batter that comes collectively in ONE bowl and not using a mixer! The cake layers are similar to what I take advantage of in my mint chocolate cake, chocolate raspberry cake, and peanut butter chocolate cake. Like these recipes, we’re utilizing darkish/Dutch cocoa powder for a darker coloration and richer taste (pairs so nicely with the frosting!).
- Whereas many strawberry recipes are greatest made throughout strawberry season, this chocolate strawberry cake might be made any time of 12 months. We’re utilizing freeze-dried strawberries within the frosting, which implies this recipe will style simply as wonderful in February as it could in June!
- Decadent & elegant: assume chocolate coated strawberries in cake kind (however far more indulgent!). Excellent for a ladies’ evening or Valentine’s Day!
Elements
As standard, I’ll spotlight a number of vital elements you’ll have questions on earlier than we get began.
- Cocoa powder. Any sort will work, however I favor Dutch or darkish cocoa for a richer taste and coloration, which I additionally makes use of in my triple chocolate cake; I believe it really works higher with the strawberry. We are going to bloom this with the boiling sizzling water to extract its taste (technically sizzling espresso would work too, if you would like an much more intense chocolate taste!).
- Freeze dried strawberries. Utilizing freeze dried strawberries ensures our frosting can have a vibrant strawberry taste and beautiful pink coloration too. They’re much extra constant than recent or frozen berries, which might differ enormously relying on the season. I do embody directions on methods to use recent or frozen berries within the FAQ part beneath, if in case you have a very flavorful crop.
- Butter. I take advantage of unsalted butter within the cake and salted within the frosting. For those who solely have unsalted, merely add ¼ teaspoon salt in with the butter. For those who solely have salted butter, scale back the salt within the cake to only ½ teaspoon.
- Heavy cream. We are going to add this to the frosting and our chocolate ganache. Whipping cream or double cream can even work.
- Chocolate. For the ganache! Use a great high quality chopped semisweet or darkish chocolate bar in the event you can. Chocolate chips will work in a pinch, however they aren’t my choice.
Bear in mind, that is simply an summary of the elements I used and why. For the complete recipe please scroll right down to the underside of the put up!
SAM’S TIP: Attempt to bear in mind to set your eggs out forward of time to allow them to come to room temperature (makes for the best mixing and most cohesive batter!). For those who overlook, use my trick to rapidly convey eggs to room temperature.
Make Chocolate Strawberry Cake
- Step 1: Make the batter. Whisk collectively the dry elements and sugar, then add the oil, eggs, vanilla, and butter. Drizzle within the buttermilk, then do the identical with the recent water. The batter needs to be easy and uniform.
- Step 2: Bake the desserts. Divide the batter between your pans and bake till a toothpick inserted within the heart comes out clear or with moist crumbs. Let the desserts cool utterly earlier than adorning.
- Step 3: Prep the strawberries. Pulse your freeze dried strawberries in a meals processor (I like to recommend a small one!) till you may have a advantageous powder.
- Step 4: Make the frosting. Cream collectively the butter and a cup of the sugar. Progressively add the remaining sugar till you may have a easy frosting. Add the strawberry powder and blend once more, then add cream as wanted till you may have a pipeable frosting.
- Step 5: Frost the cake. Degree your desserts if wanted, then start the frosting course of. Add your first cake layer to your serving plate, then add a layer of frosting. Repeat together with your subsequent two cake layers earlier than masking the entire cake with a skinny layer of frosting. Place within the freezer for 10 minutes earlier than including your ultimate coating of frosting.
- Step 6: Add the ganache drip. Make your ganache, then let it cool for quarter-hour or so (or till it’s not runny). Add a ganache drip across the whole cake, then add ganache excessive of the cake. Let the cake chill till the ganache is ready, then serve and revel in!
SAM’S TIP: If you’re a newbie cake decorator, try my posts on methods to adorn a cake and methods to do a ganache drip. Each embody extra detailed directions (and movies!) that can be very useful for this recipe!
Continuously Requested Questions
Sure. Observe the directions in my strawberry buttercream recipe for utilizing recent strawberries, simply be sure to enhance the recipe by 50% (or double it in the event you’d wish to have sufficient frosting for piping ornamental swirls on high). Notice that the frosting can be lighter in coloration, softer, and extra time-consuming when made with recent or frozen berries.
Different methods to introduce recent strawberries is to make use of strawberry sauce between the cake layers or adorn the highest of the cake with complete recent strawberries or chocolate coated strawberries.
Sure it does. Be sure that to cowl it tightly to protect its freshness and defend it from any undesirable odors in your fridge.
If you want to make the inverse of this cake (a strawberry chocolate cake!), try my strawberry cake paired with my favorite chocolate frosting or chocolate fudge frosting 🍫🍓
Enjoy!
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Strawberry frosting (see note!)
For the cake
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Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line the bottoms of three 8” pans with parchment paper and spray or grease and flour the sides of the pans. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir well until all ingredients are well combined.
1 ¾ cup (220 g) all-purpose flour, 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar, ¾ cup (75 g) Dutch cocoa powder, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ¾ teaspoon table salt, 2 Tablespoons (16 g) cornstarch
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Add oil, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract and stir until completely combined.
⅔ cup (155 ml) neutral cooking oil, ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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Slowly add in buttermilk, stirring until thoroughly combined.
1 cup (236 ml) buttermilk
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Slowly add hot water and stir until batter is uniform and completely combined.
½ cup (118 ml) very hot or boiling water
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Evenly divide batter into prepared cake pans and place in 350F (175C) oven. Bake for 24-28 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of each cake should come out clean with a few moist crumbs. (If your oven cannot fit all three cake pans it is fine to leave one on the counter while the other two bake. Also, if your oven bakes unevenly, you may need to rotate the cakes while baking).
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Allow cakes to cool in their pans for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and carefully invert onto cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting
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Place freeze dried strawberries in a small food processor and pulse until they’ve become a fine powder. Set aside.
1 oz (28 g) freeze dried strawberries
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In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Beat until completely combined. Gradually add remaining powdered sugar, stirring well after each addition, until all sugar has been added and mixture is smooth and thoroughly combined.
1 ½ cups (339 g) salted butter, 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar
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Add the strawberry powder and stir until thoroughly combined.
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Add cream, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until frosting is a smooth and pipeable consistency.
⅓ cup (80 ml) heavy cream
Assembly
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Level cakes if necessary. Place one cake layer on a serving platter and cover the top of the cake layer evenly with a layer of strawberry frosting. Repeat with the second and third layers. I recommend doing a crumb coat for the cake for easier frosting, cover entire cake with a thin layer of strawberry frosting and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
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Remove and apply an even, thick layer of strawberry frosting around the top and sides of the cake. Place remaining frosting in a piping bag fitted with an Ateco 848 tip and set aside while you prepare your ganache, this will be used to pipe swirls on the top of your cake,,
For the ganache
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Place chocolate in a small heatproof bowl or measuring cup and pour the cream overtop, stir.
4 oz (113 g) semisweet or dark chocolate bar or couverture chocolate, ½ cup (118 ml) heavy cream
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Heat in the microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring well in between, until chocolate is completely smooth and melted.
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Allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Ganache should still be liquid but no longer runny (I do a test drip to test how thick/thin it is), see my post on how to do a chocolate drip on a cake if you would like a more detailed guide.
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Remove cake from refrigerator and place ganache in a piping bag with a small tip or a squeeze bottle. Hold the bottle or bag vertically and drip ganache around the edge of the cake, going all the way around the cake. Drizzle remaining ganache over the top of the cake in a thin, even layer (you may not use all of the ganache)
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Transfer to the refrigerator and allow the cake to chill until the ganache is set.
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Slice, serve and enjoy!
Strawberry frosting
As-written, this recipe makes enough frosting to fill and coat the cake, but you likely won’t have enough to pipe decorate swirls of strawberry frosting on top of the ganache. If you would like to have enough frosting to pipe the swirls, you will need to increase the frosting portion of the recipe as such: 1.3 oz freeze dried strawberries (about 2 cups), 2 cups unsalted butter, 8 cups powdered sugar, 7-8 Tablespoons heavy cream.
Heavy cream for the frosting
Add the cream 1 Tablespoon at a time, if you need to add more than listed for a smoother, spreadable frosting, you can. I find in the summer I usually need to add a bit less than listed, and in the winter sometimes quite a bit more.
Ganache
You can substitute ½ cup chocolate chips for the chopped chocolate bar, but a bar will yield best results.
Storing
Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 967kcal | Carbohydrates: 120g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 55g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 129mg | Sodium: 506mg | Potassium: 198mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 98g | Vitamin A: 1261IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 59mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
