Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake
This is the ultimate chocolate covered strawberry cake: moist chocolate layers, strawberry buttercream, and chocolate strawberry ganache!
Servings: 12 slices
Equipment
- 2 8-inch round cake pans
- Bowls
- Whisk
- Kitchen Scale
- Measuring Spoons
- Small Saucepan
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- ¾ cup Cocoa Powder Dutch-Processed
- 1 ¾ cups Granulated Sugar
- ¾ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¾ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 Eggs room temperature
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 cup Buttermilk room temperature
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 cups Very Hot Water
Strawberry Ganache
- ½ cup Fresh Strawberries
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- 4 oz Dark Chocolate
- 1 ½ tablespoons Butter room temperature
Strawberry Buttercream
- 1 ½ cups Unsalted Butter room temperature
- 4 ¼ cups Confectioner's Sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¼ cup Heavy Cream
- 1 ½ cups Freeze Dried Strawberries blended
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Butter or grease two 8-inch cake pans and line it with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl with a whisk.¾ cup Cocoa Powder, 1 ¾ cups Granulated Sugar, ¾ teaspoon Kosher Salt, 2 cups All Purpose Flour, 2 teaspoon Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- In a large jug, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.¾ teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 2 Eggs, 1 cup Buttermilk, ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- Slowly pour in the ingredients from the large jug and mix until just combined.
- Slowly add the hot water and mix. Your batter will be very thin and it makes a lot of cake batter!1 cups Very Hot Water
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted
- Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans. Let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
Strawberry Chocolate Ganache
- Blend fruit in a blender until completely smooth. Strain it through a sieve into a bowl so you remove all the seeds (or leave them if you aren't that bothered by seeds!)½ cup Fresh Strawberries
- Place the chopped chocolate and pureed fruit into a large bowl.4 oz Dark Chocolate
- Put the cream in a saucepan on the stove and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.½ cup Heavy Cream
- Pour over the chocolate. Whisk until smooth, then add the butter and whisk again. Let cool completely, this took about 30 minutes for me but it might take longer in the summer!1 ½ tablespoons Butter
Strawberry Buttercream
- Blend the freeze dried strawberry pieces with a food processor or blender until you have a fine powder. Set aside.1 ½ cups Freeze Dried Strawberries
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar on low speed.1 ½ cups Unsalted Butter, 4 ¼ cups Confectioner's Sugar
- Once combined, turn the speed to medium-high and beat until it becomes very thick.
- Stop the mixer and add the vanilla extract, salt and strawberry powder. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract, ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Turn the mixer on your lowest speed and slowly pour in the cream until the frosting becomes creamy and spreadable - you might not need all the cream!¼ cup Heavy Cream
Assemble
- Place one cake layer down on your cake stand or plate. Place some of the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe frosting around the edge of the cake.
- Scoop out the strawberry ganache and use a small offset spatula to spread it around, inside the border.
- Place the second layer on top.
- Frost the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting. I also piped some swirls using a 1M Wilton baking tip, then you can decorate with fresh strawberries, chopped chocolate, or chocolate covered strawberries!
Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven’t tested the recipe with this method. Just click on ‘US Customary’ above the ingredients to see the cup measurements.
I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients before you start baking.
Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. I'm using Diamond Crystal kosher salt, Morton Salt is much saltier!
Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, replace it with an equal amount of sour cream or full fat yogurt. You can also make your buttermilk, for every cup of buttermilk add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let sit for 5 minutes.
Chocolate: I recommend using dark chocolate (around 60-70% cocoa) or semisweet chocolate. Milk chocolate and white chocolate won't work with the amounts listed because the ratios will be off. I don't recommend using chocolate chips because those contain emulsifiers.
Vegetable Oil: Use an unflavoured oil like canola oil or sunflower oil if you don’t have vegetable oil.
Storage: Keep tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating.
Making Ahead: You can make the cake layers ahead of time. Bake them and then once completely cooled, wrap them in plastic wrap tightly. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If frozen, allow to defrost and come to room temperature before frosting the cake. 