Strawberry Chocolate Cake

This strawberry chocolate cake is made with layers of rich and fudgy chocolate cake with homemade strawberry jam and fresh strawberries in between each layer. It's all covered with a strawberry cream cheese frosting for even more strawberry flavour!

Jump to:

• Why you'll love this recipe
• Tools
• Ingredient notes
• How to make a strawberry chocolate cake
• Storage
• Frequently asked questions
• More chocolate cake recipes to try
• Recipe

Why you'll love this recipe

• Soft and fudgy chocolate cake. This is my go-to recipe for chocolate cake that comes out perfectly rich and decadent every time.
• Strawberry jam and fresh strawberry filling. A fruity and juicy strawberry filling breaks up the richness of the chocolate.
• Strawberry cream cheese frosting. Easily flavour and colour a simple cream cheese frosting with a bit of strawberry jam.
• Simple decorations. No need for piping tips or fancy designs. I love the organic look of decorating this cake with strawberries. It's the cottagecore cake of my dreams.

Tools

• 6" round cake pans - This recipe is scaled to make two thick 6" cake layers. You can keep them thick or cut them in half to make four thinner, standard cake layers like I did. You can also divide the batter into three 6" cake pans for a 3-layer cake if you want to avoid cutting the layers.
• Electric hand mixer - A hand mixer is useful for beating the softened butter and cream cheese for the frosting quickly and easily. It's not required for this recipe but is highly recommended if you bake often. If you don't have a hand mixer, you can make the frosting with a spatula. just make sure the butter and cream cheese are very soft before you begin.
• Cake turntable (optional) - A turntable is not necessary but it makes frosting cakes easier and more enjoyable. Choose a metal one that turns smoothly.
• Piping bag - You'll need a piping bag to pipe a ring of frosting on each cake layer to prevent the jam filling from leaking out the sides. If you're using a store-bought jam that isn't liquidy, you can skip this.
• Offset spatula - This is useful for spreading frosting around the cake. Its perfect ergonomic shape is perfect for many other uses. I recommend picking up a small and large one (small one for spreading filling or frosting small cakes, large one for frosting bigger cakes).
• Cake scraper (optional)- A cake scraper or bench scraper helps remove excess frosting from the sides of your cake and leaves a smooth finish. This cake has an organic look and doesn't need to be super smooth like buttercream cakes but using a scraper still helps even out the frosting so that there is an even amount of frosting over the entire cake.

Ingredient notes

• Strawberries - To make the strawberry jam, you can use fresh or frozen strawberries. For the filling and for decorating the cake, you should use fresh strawberries as frozen strawberries become mushy once thawed. Ripe, fresh strawberries will give you the most strong and fragrant strawberry flavour.
• Granulated sugar
• All-purpose flour
• Cocoa powder - Use natural cocoa powder (the most common kind). If you don't know what kind of cocoa powder you have, it's probably natural cocoa powder. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is neutral (natural cocoa powder is acidic) and won't react with baking soda in the same way.
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Unsalted butter - Use melted butter for the cake and softened butter for the frosting.
• Oil - Using a combination of butter and oil makes cakes more soft and moist. Use any light-tasting oil like canola oil, avocado oil, or grapeseed oil.
• Brown sugar
• Eggs - These should be at room temperature to prevent the butter from solidifying upon contact with cold eggs.
• Milk - This should also be at room temperature to allow it to mix seamlessly into the cake batter.
• Cream cheese - This should be softened to room temperature otherwise it will be very difficult to cream and you may end up with chunks of cream cheese in your frosting.
• Powdered sugar - Powdered sugar is used in the frosting for sweetness and also to make the frosting creamier and more fluid for easier spreading since sugar is considered a wet ingredient. You can adjust the amount of powdered sugar to your own taste and frosting consistency preferences.
• Vanilla extract

How to make a strawberry chocolate cake

Make the strawberry jam

Cook until thickened - In a small pot, stir together strawberries, granulated sugar, and water. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a boil. Be careful as the foam can bubble up as it boils. Continue cooking until the boiling subsides and the mixture thickens into a jammy consistency. The jam should part when you drag a spatula through it and then slowly come back together after a few seconds.

Cool - Transfer the jam to a small bowl and let it cool completely in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

Make the chocolate cake

Prep - Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of two 6" round cake pans with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.

Dry mixture: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Wet mixture - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until combined. Add the eggs and whisk together until smooth.

Combine into batter - Alternate adding half of the flour mixture and then half of the milk, mixing until just combined after each addition.

Fill pans - Divide the batter evenly into your prepared cake pans (about 540g of batter in each pan). Use a spatula to smooth the surface of the batter or give the pans a quick spin on the counter.

Bake - Bake cakes for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean with some crumbs attached.

Cool - Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before running an offset spatula around the edges of the cakes to release them from the pan. Turn them out onto a wire rack and let them cool completely before assembling the cake.

Make the strawberry cream cheese frosting

Cream butter and cream cheese - In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat softened butter until it becomes very creamy. Add the cream cheese and continue beating until the cream cheese is smooth and creamy.

Beat frosting - Add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Add the strawberry jam and vanilla extract and beat again until combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl once. Transfer a small portion of the frosting to a piping bag and cut the tip off.

Assemble the cake

Prep cake layers - Use a serrated knife to level the cake layers (if there's any doming) and cut them in half to make four cake layers.

Frosting ring - On a cake turntable, lay down the first cake layer. Pipe a ring of frosting around the edge of the cake.

Fillings - Add about 4 tablespoons of strawberry jam in the middle of the frosting ring and smooth into an even layer with an offset spatula. Add diced strawberries on top of the jam and arrange into an even layer.

Repeat - Top with the next cake layer and repeat with the rest of the filling and cake layers.

Crumb coat - Apply a thin layer of frosting to the cake as a crumb coat and scrape away the excess with a cake scraper.

Frost and decorate - Apply a final coat of frosting and smooth with a scraper. Use your spatula to add some swirls in the frosting. Press halved strawberries on top of the frosting to decorate the cake.

Storage

This strawberry chocolate cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let it come back to room temperature before eating.

Leftovers can be frozen in an airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap and/or aluminum foil for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for 1-2 hours.

Frequently asked questions

More chocolate cake recipes to try

• Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
• Chocolate Orange Cake
• Soot Sprite Cake

Recipe