Strawberry Chocolate Cake

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!

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Vegetarian

Strawberry Chocolate Cake

This is the BEST chocolate cake recipe. Chocolate lovers will be in dessert heaven!

4.68 from 111 votes

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

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!