Chocolate Strawberry Cake

Perfect for Valentine's Day, this chocolate strawberry cake combines rich and fudgy chocolate cake with a bright (and all-natural!) strawberry frosting. Add a ganache drip for even more decadence!

Recipe includes a how-to video!

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 35

Cook Time 26

Total Time 1 1

Servings servings

Calories 967kcal

Author Sam Merritt

Equipment

Ingredients

Cake

1 ¾ cup (220 g) all-purpose flour
2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (75 g) Dutch cocoa powder (may substitute dark cocoa)
2 Tablespoons (16 g) cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon table salt
⅔ cup (155 ml) neutral cooking oil (avocado, vegetable, or canola oil)
½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
2 large eggs room temperature preferred
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (236 ml) buttermilk
½ cup (118 ml) very hot or boiling water

Strawberry frosting (see note!)

1 oz (28 g) freeze dried strawberries (this is usually about 1 ½ cups)
1 ½ cups (339 g) salted butter softened (or use unsalted butter and add about ¼ teaspoon salt)
6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar
⅓ cup (80 ml) heavy cream plus additional as needed, see note

Ganache

4 oz (113 g) semisweet or dark chocolate bar or couverture chocolate chopped
½ cup (118 ml) heavy cream

Instructions

For the cake

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.
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 all-purpose flour, 2 cups granulated sugar, ¾ cup Dutch cocoa powder, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ¾ teaspoon table salt, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Add oil, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract and stir until completely combined.
⅔ cup neutral cooking oil, ½ cup unsalted butter, 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Slowly add in buttermilk, stirring until thoroughly combined.
1 cup buttermilk
Slowly add hot water and stir until batter is uniform and completely combined.
½ cup very hot or boiling water
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).
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

Place freeze dried strawberries in a small food processor and pulse until they’ve become a fine powder. Set aside.
1 oz freeze dried strawberries
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 salted butter, 6 cups powdered sugar
Add the strawberry powder and stir until thoroughly combined.
Add cream, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until frosting is a smooth and pipeable consistency.
⅓ cup heavy cream

Assembly

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.
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

Place chocolate in a small heatproof bowl or measuring cup and pour the cream overtop, stir.
4 oz semisweet or dark chocolate bar or couverture chocolate, ½ cup heavy cream
Heat in the microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring well in between, until chocolate is completely smooth and melted.
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.
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)
Transfer to the refrigerator and allow the cake to chill until the ganache is set.
Slice, serve and enjoy!

Video

Notes

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.

Nutrition