Strawberry Chocolate Cake
Updated March 04, 2020
Strawberry Chocolate Cake Recipe-chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate ganache, and sweet strawberries! This is the BEST chocolate cake recipe!
My birthday was yesterday and we celebrated with the most epic chocolate cake. The boys insisted that I had a chocolate birthday cake. They said every birthday HAS to have chocolate cake…and balloons . I love chocolate cake so they didn’t have to convince me. I was on board 100 percent.
Josh and the boys kicked me out of the kitchen and baked me a special Strawberry Chocolate Cake to celebrate my birthday. It was made with love and LOTS of chocolate. It was the best cake ever and I am sharing the recipe today because you NEED to make it for Valentine’s Day.
This is the ultimate chocolate cake. The chocolate cake is perfection, super moist and super rich, just how I like it. It also has a THICK layer of my favorite chocolate buttercream frosting. I am normally not a huge frosting person, but this frosting is heavenly. I could eat it by the spoonful and I did. I snuck into the kitchen for a little taste:)
It doesn’t end there, the cake also gets drizzled with silky chocolate ganache. Oh yeah!
To balance out all of the chocolate, the cake has a layer of strawberries in the middle and strawberries on the top. They make the cake extra pretty and you can’t go wrong with strawberries and chocolate together.
This cake is STUNNING! It is almost too pretty to eat. I said almost. I dominated my piece. I loved every single bite. I was in chocolate heaven.
This Strawberry Chocolate Cake was divine. I highly recommend you make it for Valentine’s Day. Your friends, family, sweetheart, or whoever you want to share the love with will LOVE it. I promise. I am kind of hoping my boys make it for me again. I kind of liked getting kicked out of the kitchen…ha!
Photos by Sarah Fennel
Strawberry Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
For the Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips melted and cooled to room temperature
For the Ganache:
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
Garnish:
- 24 ounces strawberries
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
- While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In the bowl of stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until the frosting is smooth, about 3-4 minutes. Mix in the vanilla. Drizzle in the cooled melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Set aside while you make the ganache.
- To make the chocolate ganache, add the chocolate to a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat just until it bubbles around the edges or you can heat it in the microwave. Pour cream over the chocolate chips. Let the mixture stand for 30 seconds, then stir until the chocolate melts and a smooth ganache comes together, about 1-2 minutes. Let the ganache cool for about 5 minutes. Stir again.
- To assemble the cake, place one cake on a cake stand or serving platter. Spread frosting over the bottom layer of the cake. You want a thick layer of frosting. Next, slice 1 cup of strawberries lengthwise and place them on top of the frosting. Carefully place the second cake on top of the strawberries and gently press down to help set the cake.
- Pour the chocolate ganache over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides of the cake. Wait for the ganache to set, about 15 minutes. Remove the stems from 10 pretty strawberries and place them stem side down on the top of the cake. Gently pressing them into the ganache so they will stand up. Cut into slices and serve!
Have you tried this recipe?
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Can I make bake one cake instead of two 9 inch pans ? and then slice it in the middle with a cake cutter ?
would that need a change in the baking time ?
A 9×13 pan should work, you will probably have to bake it for longer.
I used this recipe for cupcakes instead of a cake and they were so delicious! Very moist and chocolatey. The only thing I will say is that I baked mine for 15 minutes less than the recipe says and they were perfect. The first batch I did for 5 minutes less and they were very dry and crunchy around the edges.
You’re in Chocolate Heaven
Ok so this is my new favorite cake recipe. I used King Arthur’s GF flour instead of regular, and this cake was so fudgy and moist and not crumbly at all. It’s my new chocolate cake recipe, even without the buttercream and strawberries. Fave chocolate cake. Not even kidding.
cake looks good, i’m very excited to
taste it home but my wife is not at home so i going to order it.
https://www.kingdomofcakes.in/chocolate-cakes
Thank you .. This recipe for the chocolate cake is by far the best one ever ! Super Moist, super tasty , and super easy !!!!!! I have tried many other recipes but this is really the best one . I make many other types of icings but I always use this for the cake . It’s simply amazing !!!
I’m excited to try this! Can I make the cake and frosting a couple days ahead of time?
Sure, let the cake layers cool completely. Wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze. For the frosting, keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. Beat it again until fluffy and smooth!
I made this cake yesterday for my mother’s birthday – it was delicious! I baked it in two 8-inch round pans instead of 9-inch; they domed a bit in the oven but it was easily leveled. The cake is soft and moist, and the frosting thick and creamy. My only issue was with the ganache, which was a bit too thin to hold the strawberries on top, but I may have added too much cream. I’ll definitely make this again! Thanks for the great recipe!
Have you used cake flour in this recipe?
Did you happen to try the cake flour? I was going to make this next week for my daughter’s birthday and I had the same question
The tastiest chocolate cake! Very moist and rich. The strawberries tasted delicious with the chocolate. Thanks for the recipe!
Hello, I’m wondering how you can let the melted chips come to room temp without them hardening again?
This is AMAZING! I’m a terrible baker and my daughter and I decided to make this for her dad‘s birthday and it was amazingly easy and delicious!
Adjustments: we used raspberries instead of strawberries. And we used one 9×13 metal pan. It cooked a bit quickly but came out perfectly. Then sliced it in half and made the layers. It came out almost EXACTLY (with raspberries) like the photo with this recipe. Never had that happen before!
Can you use different kinds of fruit or frozen fruit for this recipe?
I wouldn’t use frozen fruit, but fresh berries would work!
The chocolate ganache does not turn out like pictured at all. Super runny and all gets absorbed by the cake, and completely dripped off the cake. It is no longer on the top of the cake, like, at all. Otherwise tastes good.
I won’t be making this again though. Way too much work for just an okay cake.
How many calories are in a slice of this cake?
Great Recipe, made it twice this week (lots of February birthdays). Rave reviews both times!
Hi. The cake smells great, I’m still baking it. However, there are large cracks on top and the middle is taking way too long to cook. I’ve been baking for an hour. I think the baking temperature and pre heating time is important when you’re cooking in a convection microwave oven. Please mention it if you can.
I have to make this cake the night before it will be auctioned off the next mourning. Do I leave it out all night, or put it in the frig
If you are adding the ganache the night before, keep it in the fridge. Or you can assemble the day of and keep it out.
After baking the cake for 35 min the inside is still liquidy – i will keep it in the oven for another 15-20 min extra…..
Absolutely amazing! Will be making again.
Incredible cake. I used the frosting between layers and skipped the ganache. So rich and delicious!
Ganache definitely doesn’t work! Ruined the cake 🙁
Loved this delicious cake! I’d like to make it next time with cherry pie filling in the middle. Do you think that would work?
That might be a fun swap! I haven’t tried it, but sounds good!
Super gooey with a perfect combination of sweet & fruit. Best cake I think I’ve ever made! Everyone loved it!
Made in the U.K., so had to convert all the cup measurements, but it worked beautifully was absolutely delicious! I made it as one cake and cut in half (as I didn’t have two nine inch tins). I increased the cooking time by about 15 mins. Super gooey with a perfect combination of sweet and fruit! Thanks!
So happy you loved the cake.
Thanks
Best chocolate cake recipe ever! Can you swap for gluten free flour?
I have had success with Cup4Cup flour.
I made this cake step
By step . It was a very dense cake much like a mud cake . Flavour was nice but I wasn’t overly impressed by the texture .
Great taste, only the ganache didn’t turn out as it should, somehow it was too thin although I used the exacly stated quantities.
But, definitely would try it again and maybe with mix of berries.
Possibly the best tasting cake I ever made. Recipe easy but the results are fire!
Yahoo!
Any recommendations for high altitude? Thank you!
Hi i dont profess to be a baker but its just taken 1hr 20mins at has mark 4/350f to have my skewer come out clean? I dont know how anyone could bake this batter in 30/35 mins.
hopefullly it tastes as good as it looks and smells. can you give any reason for prolonged bake time. followed recipe word for word? preheated oven? I have baked other chocolate cakes using this oven and none took way over the set time given before. strange!!
Thank you.