Chocolate Strawberry Cake
Moist chocolate strawberry cake with fresh strawberry filling and nostalgic marshmallow/cream-cheese frosting. A simple one-bowl cake that is perfect for valentines day!
Ingredients
One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups All-purpose Flour
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 2/3 cup Cocoa unsweetened, dutch processed
- 1 1/2 tsp Espresso Powder optional
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- a pinch of salt kosher or fine sea salt
- 2 Egg large, room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Milk Dairy or nut milk (almond, coconut, cashew, oat, soy) - use your favourite!
- 1/2 cup Vegetable/Canola oil or another light, flavourless oil
- 1 cup Hot Water
Strawberry Filling
- 2-3 cups Fresh Strawberries washed and sliced
- 3 tbsp Strawberry Jam
Mascarpone Whipped Cream (Chantilly Cream)
- 8 oz Cream Cheese Mascarpone or Regular Cream cheese (softened, room temperature)
- 1 cup Marshmallow Fluff +/- additional 1/2 cup for mixing into final frosting (optional)
- 2 cups Heavy Cream +/- additional 1/2 cup to achieve a pipable consistency after adding jam
- 2-3 tbsp Strawberry Jam
- 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Extract
- Pink Gel Food colouring (optional)
Instructions
One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350F (convection oven 325F). Oil and line two, 9” cake pans with parchment paper rounds.
- In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, espresso powder, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk to mix and aerate mixture (note: espresso powder amplifies the chocolate flavour).
- To the flour mixture, directly add egg, vegetable oil, vanilla, and milk. Mix until well incorporated and mixture is a thick, glossy, dark brown paste. Add boiling water to the mixture (slowly).
- Gently stir until the mixture transitions from a paste consistency to a thin liquid consistency.
- Pour 1/2 of batter into each cake pan. Bake cakes for ~35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Let cakes cool in their cake pans for 10 minutes before moving to wire cake racks to cool completely.
- *while the cake is cooling, you can start preparing the cherries!
Strawberry Filling
- In a medium bowl, mix together fresh, sliced strawberries with strawberry jam. Mix until all the fruit is covered in jam and allow to sit until ready to use.
Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese (Mascarpone or regular cream cheese) with marshmallow fluff.
- Add strawberry Jam and continue to whisk (Note: at this point you can add pink gel food colouring as desired).
- Add whipped cream and vanilla. Whip until stiff peaks form.
- Frosting is done when stiff peaks are created when the mixer whisk is taken out of the cream. Fold in additional marshmallow fluff, as desired, to achieve preferred sweetness
Assembly
- Place your first cake layer on top of your cake board.
- On top of this first layer, spread about a third of your whipped cream mixture and create an outer rim. Add sliced strawberries to the centre.
- Add your second cake layer. Press it slightly to ensure it is steady over the whipped cream/strawberries.
- Generously spread the remaining whipped cream to the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with additional strawberries and chocolate (note: I decorated with chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate shavings/curls).
- Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Sofia’s Tips:
- This cake batter will be very thin after you add the hot water – don’t panic! This is the way it is supposed to be.
- Go slow while mixing batter with hot water to ensure that you do not spill hot batter on yourself!
- Cake layers can last up to 6 months in the freezer. Package them in a double layer of plastic wrap and tin foil/a freezer bag. To thaw - simply remove cakes from freezer and set at room temperature for up to an hour to thaw)
- Experimenting with additional flavour extracts can be a fun way to update this recipe! You can also always try using a combination of raspberry jams and/or fresh seasonal fruit.
Nutrition
Serving: 1pieceCalories: 444kcalCarbohydrates: 54gProtein: 5gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 267mgPotassium: 103mgFiber: 1gSugar: 38gVitamin A: 683IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 94mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!