This chocolate covered strawberry cake has moist chocolate cake layers, strawberry cream cheese frosting, and chocolate ganache drizzled over the top. It’s a perfect small cake for Valentine’s Day or any special occasion.
I think everyone enjoys chocolate and strawberries. So why not combine the two and make a chocolate covered strawberry cake? This impressive dessert will definitely wow your loved ones. It’s so pretty and is so tasty!
This chocolate and strawberry cake starts with moist and tender cake layers. Then a layer of light and fluffy strawberry cream cheese frosting. You’ll add freeze dried strawberries to the cream cheese frosting. This gives the cream cheese frosting a rich strawberry flavor. Then a layer of sliced strawberries; drizzled with chocolate ganache. Lastly, you’ll top the cake with more chocolate ganache and more sliced strawberries. Its’ the perfect chocolate covered strawberry cake!
Ingredients needed
For the chocolate cake
- Flour
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vegetable oil
- Sour cream
- Cocoa powder: I prefer using dark cocoa powder. It gives the cake a rich chocolate flavor.
- Hot water
- Baking soda
- Vanilla extract
- Espresso instant coffee: Optional. Espresso instant coffee will bring out the chocolate flavor even more. It’s optional but I definitely recommend adding it.
For the strawberry frosting
- Cream cheese: Make sure the cream cheese is a at room temperature.
- Powdered sugar
- Freeze dried strawberries
- Heavy whipping cream
For chocolate ganache
- Chocolate: Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate. Semi sweet, milk or dark chocolate can be used.
- Heavy whipping cream
Freeze dried strawberries can be found at your local grocery store. They are usually located by the snacks aisle. Be sure to get freeze dried strawberries and not dried strawberries. Dried strawberries are more chewy and don’t grind into fine powder. Freeze dried strawberries are crispy and grind into fine powder. Freeze dried strawberries are the perfect addition to frosting because it gives the frosting a good strawberry flavor without making the frosting runny. I would not recommend substituting them for anything else.
How to make chocolate cake with strawberry filling
How to make the chocolate cake layers
- Whisk the dry ingredients: In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder and a pinch of salt. Then set aside.
- Beat wet ingredients: In a mixer bowl, beat vegetable oil, eggs and sugar until combined. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until there no more streaks of sour cream and mixture is smooth.
- Combine both mixture and add hot water: Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Beat on low speed until flour is almost incorporated. Then add the hot water. Beat until batter is smooth and lump free.
- Bake: Pour cake batter into two 6 inch pans. Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
How to make the strawberry cream cheese frosting
- Prepare heavy whipping cream: In a mixer bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Then place the whipped heavy cream in a separate bowl and set aside.
- Prepare the freeze dried strawberries: To a food processor add the freeze dried strawberries. Crush until the freeze dried strawberries form a powder.
- Beat the rest of ingredients: To the mixer bowl, add cream cheese, powdered sugar and crushed freeze dried strawberries. Beat until the frosting is smooth and fluffy. (At this point, you can try the frosting and adjust the amount of powdered sugar. I used approximately 1 cup powdered sugar. The frosting wasn’t overly sweet. However feel free to add more powdered sugar if you prefer sweeter frosting.)
- Add the whipped heavy cream: Add the whipping heavy cream to the frosting and fold until there are no more streaks of whipping cream. The frosting should be light and fluffy.
How to assemble chocolate covered strawberry cake
If the tops of the cake are domed, cut off the tops. This will help the cake be flat.
Place one cake layer on cake stand. Frost with a generous amount of the strawberry frosting. Add the sliced strawberries. Drizzle with a little bit of chocolate ganache. Then add the second cake layer. Frost the top and sides of cake with remaining strawberry cream cheese frosting. Pour chocolate ganache over cake. Pipe whipped cream on top of the cake.
How to make the chocolate ganache
Add chocolate chips to a bowl and set aside. In a small sauce pan add the heavy whipping cream. Warm the heavy cream on low – medium heat until almost boiling. Then pour over the chocolate chips. Cover with a lid, or paper towel. Let it sit for about one minute. (This helps the chocolate chips soften) Stir until the chocolate ganache is smooth.
With a spoon, pour some of the chocolate ganache over the sides of the cake. The chocolate ganache should immediately drizzle down the sides. Continue this process until all the sides of the cake have been drizzled with chocolate. Then carefully pour some of the ganache in the center of the cake; carefully spread until the top of the cake is covered.
The chocolate ganache should be a little runny. It should not be hot! (if the ganache is hot, it can melt the frosting) It should be just slightly warm. You can refrigerate the cake for 15-30 minutes to ensure the frosting has set before pouring the ganache over the cake.
If the ganache is not runny, microwave the chocolate ganache at 5 second intervals until you reach the desired consistency.
No. There may be a little bit of chocolate ganache left. You can use the left over chocolate ganache to dip the strawberries in, or make truffles.
Yes! The ganache can be made a few days ahead of time. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one month.
Other cake recipes you may like
- Chocolate Cake With Strawberry Filling
- Strawberry filled Chocolate Cupcakes
- Triple Berry Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake
This Chocolate covered strawberry cake has moist chocolate cake layer, strawberry cream cheese frosting, and chocolate ganache drizzled over the top. It’s a perfect small cake for Valentine’s Day or any special occasion.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 slices 1x
- Category: dessert
Ingredients
For the cake
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup dark cocoa powder
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons hot water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
For the strawberry cream cheese frosting
- 1 (8oz.) cream cheese, room temp
- ¾ – 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup cup (.90oz) freeze dried strawberries
- ¾ cup + ¾ cup heavy whipping cream, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ~ 5 strawberries, + more for topping, sliced
Chocolate ganache
- ⅔ cup chocolate chips
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Chocolate cake
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two 6 inch pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder. ( if using) Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, vegetable oil and sugar until combined. About 3 minutes.
- Add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until there are no more streaks of sour cream and batter is smooth.
- Add the flour mixture. Beat until flour is almost incorporated. (you should still see flour in the batter) Add the hot water and mix until combined and batter is smooth.
- Divide cake batter among prepared cake pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.
Strawberry cream cheese frosting
- Beat ¾ cup of heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- In a food processor, crush the freeze dried strawberries until powder. Remove 1 tablespoon of crushed freeze dried strawberries and set aside. (This will be used for the whipping cream to pipe on top of cake)
- To a mixer bowl add cream cheese, powdered sugar, crushed freeze dried strawberries and vanilla extract. Beat until frosting is smooth and light. ( adjust the sugar at this moment. *)
- Add the heavy whipping cream and fold until there are no more streaks of heavy whipping cream.
Chocolate ganache
- To a bowl add chocolate chips and set aside.
- Add heavy whipping cream to a small sauce pan. Heat the heavy cream on medium-low heat until almost boiling.
- Pour the heavy whipping cream over the chocolate chips. Cover with a lid or paper towel. Let it sit undisturbed for 1 minutes. Then stir until smooth.
- Cool slightly before pouring over cake.
Assembling cake
- Place cake layer on cake stand.
- Add a generous amount of the strawberry cream cheese frosting.
- Add the sliced strawberries. Then drizzle with some chocolate ganache.
- Add the 2nd cake layer. Frost the tops and sides of cake with remaining strawberry frosting. Refrigerate.
- Once the chocolate ganache has slightly cooled off, but is still runny, pour chocolate ganache over cake using drip cake method: using a spoon carefully pour the chocolate ganache over the sides of the cake. The ganache should immediately drip down. Continue the process until all the sides are done. Pour some of the chocolate ganache in the center of the cake. And spread until all the center is covered.
- If you want to pipe frosting on top of the cake: To a mixer bowl add ¾ cup heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and remaining 1 tablespoon crushed freeze dried strawberries. Beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe on top of cake.
- Garnish with more sliced strawberries.
Notes
* Before adding the whipped heavy cream to the cream cheese frosting, adjust the amount of powdered sugar. I used ~ 1 cup of powdered sugar. The frosting wasn’t too sweet. If you prefer sweeter frosting add more powdered sugar. Add up to 1 ⅓ cup powdered sugar.
Keywords: chocolate and strawberry cake, chocolate cake with strawberry filling, chocolate covered strawberry cake
Irina says
Made this recipe for Mother’s Day and it was delicious! I double the recipe and placed in two 9 inch cake pans instead of 6 inch. The bake time was a couple minutes longer. I also doubled the frosting recipe and didn’t do the extra step with the frosting for the top and used the frosting that was used for the layers on the top. Thanks for such a tasty cake recipe!
★★★★★
nataliyadudley says
Irina,
So glad you enjoyed it!
Nataliya