Chocolate Strawberry Cake

Why You'll Love Chocolate Strawberry Cake

• Basic Baking Ingredients: This recipe uses simple baking ingredients you can find in your kitchen or grocery store.
• Easy: The cake and both buttercream varieties are simple and easy to make.
• Deep Flavor: Dutched cocoa powder in the cake and cark cocoa powder in the chocolate buttercream combine with the bright flavor of strawberry in the strawberry buttercream to create a rich, deep, and bright flavor profile.
• So Pretty: This is a beautiful cake equally at home at a fancy gathering as it is at the dinner table.

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

• Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour: I prefer Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour because I find it gives my baked goods the best texture.
• Dutched Cocoa Powder: I use OliveNation 22/24 Fat Dutched cocoa powder to give the brownies a deep chocolate flavor without bitterness. Use Code: NK15 for 15% off.
• Almond Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar: These combine to create plant-based buttermilk, which makes the cake extra tender.
• Vanilla Extract: I prefer Singing Dog vanilla extract for its quality, purity, and deep vanilla flavor.
• Avocado Oil: Avocado oil gives the cake the fat it needs for richness and texture without adding unhealthy saturated fat.

Strawberry Buttercream

• Butter: Butter gives the buttercream frosting its rich texture and buttery flavor.
• Freeze-Dried Strawberry Powder: OliveNation freeze-dried strawberry fruit powder gives the buttercream a blast of strawberry flavor.
• Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar gives the frosting its sweet flavor and body.
• Vanilla Extract: I prefer Singing Dog vanilla extract for its quality, purity, and deep vanilla flavor.

Chocolate Strawberry Buttercream

• Butter: Butter gives the buttercream frosting its rich texture and buttery flavor.
• Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar gives the frosting its sweet flavor and body.
• Vanilla Extract: I prefer Singing Dog vanilla extract for its quality, purity, and deep vanilla flavor.
• Dutched Cocoa Powder: I use OliveNation 22/24 Fat Dutched cocoa powder to give the brownies a deep chocolate flavor without bitterness. Use Code: NK15 for 15% off.
• Strawberry Emulsion: OliveNation strawberry emulsion adds a bright, sweet strawberry flavor to the chocolate buttercream.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

You'll find the ingredients and instructions for the chocolate-covered strawberries in the recipe card of my chocolate strawberry cupcakes.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts.

Flavor Variations

• Classic Chocolate Cake: Omit the strawberry emulsion from the chocolate strawberry buttercream for classic chocolate cake.
• Dairy-Free: Use plant butter and cream for the frosting to make a gluten and dairy-free cake.
• Traditional Flour: You can use all-purpose or cake flour in the same amounts for this recipe if you don't have gluten restrictions.
• Buttermilk: If you aren't vegan or lactose intolerant, feel free to use buttermilk in place of almond milk and vinegar.

Instructions

Chocolate Cake

1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease the bottom of two 8-inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper rounds. Combine the almond milk and vinegar and set it aside.

2: Whisk the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

3: Mix the wet ingredients in a stand mixer until combined. Then, slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing on medium until combined. Finally, pour in the boiling water and mix until combined. The batter will be slightly runny.

4: Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5: Let the cakes cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack.

Strawberry Buttercream

1: Beat the butter on high in a stand mixer until creamy. Then, add the strawberry powder, vanilla, salt, half the powdered sugar, and half the heavy cream and mix until combined.

2: Add the remaining powdered sugar and heavy cream and mix until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.

Chocolate Strawberry Buttercream

1: In a stand mixer, cream the butter with the paddle attachment on high until creamy. Then, add the vanilla and salt and mix on low until just combined.

2: Add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and mix again. Then, add both cocoa powders and the strawberry emulsion and mix on low. Then, increase the speed to medium and mix until combined.

3: Add 2 more tablespoons of heavy cream and mix until the frosting reaches your desired consistency. Adjust with more cream to thin the frosting if necessary.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

See the recipe card on my chocolate strawberry cupcakes page for instructions on how to make chocolate-covered strawberries.

Construction

1: Place one cake on a plate or cake stand. Then, frost the top of it with your choice of strawberry buttercream or chocolate strawberry buttercream.

2: Place the second cake on top of the frosted cake and frost the entire outside of the cake with chocolate strawberry buttercream.

3: Place chocolate-covered strawberries around the edge of the top of the cake.

Hint

Sift your powdered sugar for a frosting with a super creamy texture.

Storage

Store this cake in a covered container for up to 4 days at room temperature. For longer storage, refrigerate it in an air-tight container for up to a week.

You can also wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil and freeze it for up to 2 months. Defrost the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Pairing Suggestions

This rich, delicious dessert is the perfect finish to a hearty meal like chicken and sausage pasta, air fryer pork chops, or salmon with cherry tomatoes.

Chocolate Strawberry Cake Tips

• Be sure to let your boiling water cool a bit so it doesn't cook the eggs in the batter prematurely.
• Fully soften your butter for the cake and frostings to ensure the best texture.
• Bring all your cold cake batter ingredients to room temperature. This helps them mix more easily and prevents overmixing.
• Fully cool your cakes before frosting them. Even a slightly warm cake will cause the buttercream to thin and slide off of the cake.

More Delicious Chocolate Cake Recipes

• White Chocolate Raspberry Cake
• Chocolate Banana Cake
• Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

Chocolate Strawberry Cake Questions