This Easy Chocolate Strawberry Cake is easy to make, tastes delicious, and is ready in under an hour! Featuring a tender chocolate cake layered with the best homemade strawberry buttercream and topped with rich chocolate ganache, it’s the perfect treat to impress your loved ones.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
The Cake: I use a simple chocolate box cake for this recipe with a few extra items to make it stand out. However, feel free to make my homemade buttermilk chocolate cake instead!
The Frosting: The strawberry buttercream is so delicious and extremely easy to make.
The Ganache: Rich, velvety, smooth, chocolate topping- always! Yes.
The Best Pairing: We all love the classic combo of chocolate and strawberry for good reason. From chocolate-dipped strawberries to ice cream and now this delectable cake, chocolate and strawberry make the perfect pair!
This cake is perfect for Valentine's Day! Don't miss these other favorites to celebrate love: heart cake, my Valentine's Cake pops, and these easy Valentine's Day Cupcakes!
What Goes Into This Recipe:
Boxed Cake Mix: I like to use a storebought mix to make this recipe. It tastes great and comes together fast!
Strawberry Buttercream: I use real strawberries and LorAnn Strawberry Oil for maximum strawberry flavor- you can find the oil at most grocery stores, and bright pink food gel coloring for a vibrant pink color.
Ganache: Heavy Cream and semi-sweet chocolate chips is all you need for a smooth pourable ganache.
Decorations: Strawberries, Sprinkles, Crushed Chocolate, Candies
How to Make This Chocolate Strawberry Cake?
- Step 1: Mix up the cake batter and pour into two 8-inch round cake pans.
- Step 2: Bake cakes and allow them to cool completely before frosting.
How to Make Strawberry Buttercream?
- Step 3: Heat water, strawberries, and salt in a medium saucepan.
- Step 4: Mash strawberries as the mixture boils. Reduce mixture to ~½ cup then set aside to cool. If you want a super smooth mixture, you can use an emulsion blender.
- Step 5: Using a stand mixer, beat butter until fluffy then mix in the vanilla, powdered sugar, and heavy cream
- Step 6: Add in the cooked strawberries, a few drops of the strawberry oil, and a few drops of the gel food coloring. Mix until fluffy.
How to Decorate Valentine’s Day Cake?
- Step 7: Place the first cake layer on a cake board with a bit of buttercream underneath. Add an even layer of strawberry frosting, then top with the second layer. Fill any gaps with more buttercream and refrigerate for a few minutes to set.
- Step 8: Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream. For a smooth finish, use a cake scraper or apply a crumb coat followed by a final layer of frosting (requires a second batch of frosting). Refrigerate until set.
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- Step 9: Combine chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until smooth. Then pour over the top of the cake allowing it to drip down the sides.
- Step 10: Decorate the top with strawberries, candy, and chocolate pieces.
Expert Tips
Cake- If the tops of the cake bake into a dome simply use a serrated knife to slice off the dome to create a flat top.
Frosting- If you want to make a super smooth cake like this German Chocolate Cake, double the frosting recipe and do a crumb coat, refrigerate, then do a final smooth coat. Pictures in this post show only one batch of frosting used and I find I love how it looks.
Frosting Flavor- Adding 2-4 drops of LorAnn Strawberry Oil makes the strawberry flavor stand out. Start with only two drops, taste, and then add more. A little oil goes a long way.
Filling- Add a layer of strawberry jam or thinly sliced strawberries between the cake layers for an extra burst of flavor!
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the cake and any cake slices in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Keeping the air away will keep the cake tender and won’t dry out.
I like to add sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla, an extra egg, cocoa powder, and espresso powder. This create a tender crumb and deep chocolate flavor.
Yes! Use frozen strawberries for the frosting the same as you would fresh. I don't recommend using them to decorate though.
Other Valentine Recipes
For more easy and delicious Valentine's Recipes check out my chocolate truffle cake and easy white chocolate-covered strawberries, for more easy cake recipes don't miss my strawberry shortcake cupcakes, dark chocolate buttercream frosting, or these tasty cream-filled chocolate cupcakes!
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Video
Chocolate Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box chocolate cake mix*
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tbs vanilla
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder optional
Strawberry Buttercream
- ½ cup strawberries* about 6-8 strawberries
- ¼ cup water
- Pinch of salt
- 1 ½ cups butter slightly softened
- 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla
- 6 ½ cups powdered sugar + more if needed
- 5 tbs heavy cream + more if needed
- 3-4 drops LorAnn Strawberry Oil* optional but recommended
- Neon Pink Food Gel- optional but really gives it that pink color you want
Ganache
- ¼ heavy cream
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Strawberries Sprinkles, Crushed Chocolate, Candies as toppings (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray two 8 in cake pans with a flouring baking spray (like baker’s joy)
- Mix together, either by hand or in a stand mixer, the oil, vanilla, sour cream, heavy cream and eggs. Then mix in the boxed cake mix, cocoa powder, and espresso powder if using.1 box chocolate cake mix*, ½ cup vegetable oil, 2 tbs vanilla, ¾ cup sour cream, ¾ cup heavy cream, 4 eggs, ¼ cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- Pour batter into cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes- or until a toothpick comes out clean. *
- Once baked allow to cool and make your frosting.
Strawberry Buttercream
- In a medium sauce pan, combine water, strawberries, and salt. Heat over medium heat, mashing the strawberries as the liquid boils.½ cup strawberries*, Pinch of salt, ¼ cup water
- Boil until liquid is reduced to about ¼ cup, 3-4 minutes. Once at ¼ cup, remove from heat and refrigerate until cool.*
- In a stand mixer beat butter on medium until fluffy. Add the vanilla, powdered sugar, and heavy cream until a buttercream forms.1 ½ cups butter, 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla, 6 ½ cups powdered sugar + more if needed, 5 tbs heavy cream + more if needed
- Add the strawberries, a few drops of strawberry oil, and a few drops of the gel food coloring.3-4 drops LorAnn Strawberry Oil*, Neon Pink Food Gel- optional but really gives it that pink color you want
- Mix until fluffy. If the mixture is too runny add more powdered sugar (¼ cup at a time), and if it’s too stiff add more heavy cream (1tbs at a time).
Frost the Cake
- Place the first cake layer on your cake plate or board. Add a nice layer of strawberry buttercream, then place the second cake laver over that.
- Frost the cake with strawberry buttercream* then refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to allow the buttercream to set.
- While refrigerating the cake, make your ganache. In a microwave safe dish combine heavy cream and chocolate chips. Microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and combined. Usually takes about 1 minutes.¼ heavy cream, 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Pour the ganache over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Before it sets up place any candies or strawberries on top.Strawberries
Notes
- *If you prefer a homemade chocolate cake, use this recipe but cut it in half, it’s my favorite!
- *If you don’t have the extra ingredients to doctor the box mix just follow the directions on the back of the box and bake accordingly.
- *If you have a thermometer, the cakes will be done at an internal temperature of 205-210°F
- *Strawberry Oil can be found in the baking/decorating aisle of most grocery stores. It comes in a tiny bottle but you only need a few drops. You can also buy it online here.
- *You can use fresh or frozen strawberries, just make sure they are thawed if using frozen.
- *If your strawberry mixture is too chunky you can smooth it out by using an immersion blender on it.
- *The strawberry buttercream makes enough for a single coat without a crumb coat. If you want a super smooth finish with a sharp edge (like seen here on my pink and gold cake), I recommend doubling the frosting, doing a crumb coat then a final coat.
- *Refrigerate cake and any leftovers for up to 5 days. It’s best to keep sliced cake in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out.
Lisa says
So good!