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I am so giddy sharing this Valentine’s Day Cake recipe with you!
This cake turned out so beautiful it would be the perfect way to show your love and appreciation for someone this Valentine’s Day, or any other special occasion. The best part is that if I can do it, you totally can because I have little patience for cake decorating (Cake Boss gives me nightmares).
The chocolate cake is so unbelievably moist, rich, and flavorful, even people who don’t like cake will like this. Not to mention the strawberry buttercream adds that perfect luscious, creamy, and thick bite of flavor that complements the chocolate wonderfully.
And c’mon. Chocolate covered strawberries on top? Does life get better than that? I don’t think so! By the way – if you want some extra tips on buttercream, check out my post on How to Make the Best Buttercream!
How to Make Chocolate + Strawberry Valentine’s Day Cake
Heads up: this cake batter is THIN and RUNNY!
I’m not exaggerating when I say that! It’s meant to be this way. I promise the cake will bake up ultra moist, rich, and tender.
My cake layers sunk in the middle!
This chocolate cake is ULTRA moist. Sometimes it sinks a little in the middle. Don’t panic if this happens! You can always flip the cakes upside down when assembling. If the sunken part is worse, simply use a cake leveler or serrated knife to level it off.
Can I make this recipe into cupcakes?
Yes, this recipe makes about 24 cupcakes. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes.
Why is there coffee in chocolate cake recipe?
The coffee helps to enhance the chocolate flavor of the cocoa powder. You won’t taste the coffee, promise.
Can I substitute coffee in chocolate cake?
Yes. Simply use 1 cup hot water (not boiling – you don’t want to scramble the eggs!).
You can also use 1 cup hot water + 1 teaspoon espresso powder to get that similar chocolate enhancing effect. This is perfect if you don’t want to brew coffee just for a cake.
What is a crumb coat?
This is simply a very thin layer of frosting applied to the cake before the final pretty layer is applied. The crumb coat acts as “spackle” to protect encase the cake and protect the final frosting application from getting any unsightly crumbs in the mix. Basically, it helps that final frosting go on smoothly and cleanly.
Why do you refrigerate or freeze cake layers before frosting?
This helps the frosting go on more smoothly and evenly.
Can I freeze cake layers?
Absolutely! Wrap unfrosted un-cut cooled cake layers completely in several layers of plastic wrap. Place inside a freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge (do not defrost at room temperature or you will end up with mushy cake).
Where are those sprinkles from?
They were purchased at Kroger, the closest I’ve found online is on Wilton’s website here.
How do I make Chocolate Covered Strawberries?
You can use pre-made chocolate covered strawberries for the garnish on this cake, or make them yourself! Learn how to dip strawberries in chocolate here.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
More Valentine’s Day Desserts
For the cake:
-
Butter, for greasing
-
1 3/4
cups
(225 grams) all-purpose flour,
plus more for pans
-
2
cups
(400 grams) granulated sugar
-
3/4
cups
(64 grams) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
-
2
teaspoons
baking soda
-
1
teaspoon
baking powder
-
1
teaspoon
salt
-
1
cup
buttermilk,
at room temperature
-
1/2
cup
fresh vegetable oil
-
2
large eggs,
at room temperature
-
1
teaspoon
pure vanilla extract
-
1
cup
freshly brewed hot coffee
For the strawberry buttercream:
-
6
cups
(750 grams) powdered sugar,
sifted
-
4
sticks
(452 grams) unsalted butter,
at room temperature
-
2/3
cup
seedless strawberry preserves
-
1/2
teaspoon
fine salt
-
2
teaspoons
pure vanilla extract
-
Red gel food coloring,
if desired
-
Chocolate Covered Strawberries,
for garnish
For the cake:
-
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 (8-inch) round cake pans.
-
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add in the salt and whisk to combine.
-
In a large measuring up or small bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the hot coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Don’t overmix, the batter should be very thin and runny.
-
Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. The cakes make sink slightly in the middle because they're so moist. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then carefully turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Freeze or refrigerate until firm to the touch.
For the buttercream:
-
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes until ultra light and smooth. Add in the strawberry preserves, salt, and vanilla and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add about 1/4 teaspoon gel food coloring, if using, and beat until the buttercream is evenly colored. Add more coloring if desired.
-
Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on a flat surface or cake pedestal. Using an offset spatula, spread about 1/3 of the frosting all over the cake, pushing it all the way past the edges.
-
Place the second cake layer on top, flat side up, and spread a very thin coating of frosting all over to make a crumb coating. When scraping away excess frosting, be careful not to add the crumb frosting back in with the clean frosting. Freeze or refrigerate the cake until the frosting is firm.
-
Remove from freezer and spread the remaining frosting evenly over the cake, scraping away excess frosting and smoothing imperfections with the offset spatula. Garnish with sprinkles and chocolate covered strawberries before serving, if desired.
-
The frosted cake can be stored at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge for up to 3 days.
This recipe was originally published in 2015 and updated with gram measurements, recipe improvements, recipe tips, and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Would this buttercream frosting hold well for an outdoor event? The highest temp being 98F.
Cake would more than likely be inside fridge until cake time.
Hi Lisa! We haven’t tested how well this buttercream holds up in such warm weather, but it should be fine for a bit at that temperature – especially if you’re able to store it in the fridge until shortly before serving. Our best guess is that about an hour out of the fridge will be just fine (as long as it’s not in the direct sunlight). Let us know what you think of this cake once you’ve given it a try 🙂
I made this cake for Valentine’s Day. I doubled the recipe in order to have enough cake to create the a heart shaped cake for a dinner for 10. I followed the recipe exactly as printed.
This cake was a serious amount of work, but it was well worth the effort.
My wife loved it and each of my friends said that it might have been the best cake that they have ever eaten. It was certainly the best chocolate cake that I have ever had, I bought all of the candy decorations online. Beware, the candies make the icing really sweet. However, the buttercream icing with strawberry preserves was delicious.
I will be making a Harley Davidson birthday cake later this month and you can rest assured that this cake recipe will be the base for the cake.
Thank you for sharing such a great recipe.
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
Hi Vanessa! As Tessa mentions in the recipe, the frosted cake can be stored at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let us know what you think once you’ve given this cake a try 🙂
This looks so good! What a great treat to make for the family to celebrate!
I am planning to make this cake for my friends birthday except I do not have buttermilk on hand! I have thought of a few alternatives, just wondering which you think would be best!! I have almond milk or dry milk powder (mixed with water). I also have sour cream, which I read you can mix with water as a buttermilk substitute. Thanks and so excited to make this!!!
Hi Jenna! While we do recommend sticking with real buttercream for this recipe, Tessa recently performed some side-by-side experiments to see what buttermilk alternative performed the best. Check out the article here! 🙂
Proud Dad moment! My 12 year old daughter made this recipe entirely by herself (including figuring out how to put the sprinkles on the side of the cake!) a couple days ago and it turned out so perfectly! The cake is super moist and delicious and I love the strawberry buttercream frosting. Our entire family loved it and it disappeared far too quickly! Can’t wait for her to try her hand at something else!
That’s SO amazing, Wayne! You should definitely be very proud of your daughter! Way to go 🙂
Tessa, you’re the best. But you’ve finally crossed the Line. A cake Leveler? I had to look this one up, found it, never had any idea that such a thig a existed. You beat me again. I’m trusting you, gonna make the cake, I’ll let you know how it turns out, level or not..thx.
We can’t wait to hear how it turns out, Jim! 🙂
This was SO good! Made it for Valentine’s Day and had many compliments!
Recipe more than great
a cup of butter equals how many grams
Thanks for the simple, classy explanation. ❤️❤️
This cake was super tasty, and surprisingly easy to make! It seems intimidating, but ultimately it’s a matter of mixing all wet and dry ingredients separately and then combining them together. I baked mine in two 9-inch round pans and increased the recipe by 25% – I *think* I had it in the oven around 30-32 minutes. Turned out beautifully.
I’d also recommend adding ‘strawberry’ to the key terms on this recipe! I was pretty sure that I saw you post it on Instagram but couldn’t find it by searching on your website because I didn’t use the keyword ‘valentines day.’
Thanks so much for your feedback, Lauren! I’ve emailed our tech team to see what the issue is – ‘strawberry’ actually is listed as a key term, so they’re digging into why the search isn’t connecting properly. I appreciate you bringing this to our attention!
Interesting – if I use the recipe filters for ‘strawberry,’ it shows up. But if I search the keyword ‘strawberry,’ it doesn’t. Hope this helps! Loved the cake 🙂
I tried it myself after your comment earlier and realized that as well, so weird! I sent screenshots of using the search bar vs the recipe filter to our tech team, so I’m sure they’ll be able to figure out the issue. Thanks again for letting us know!
This cake was delicious! So moist and the strawberry buttercream had just the right amount of strawberry flavor. Will be making this again!
Wonderful! So happy you loved this cake!
What is the best way to decorate the cake with sprinkles? I would like my cake to look like yours.
Hi Melanie! If you follow us on Instagram, check out Tessa’s highlight on making her Birthday Cake recipe. She shows how to decorate the cake with sprinkles in the last few slides, and though it’s not the same recipe, hopefully visually seeing how she added the sprinkles to that cake will help you be able to decorate this cake. Here is a direct link to the BIRTHDAY CAKE HIGHLIGHT. Please let me know how it goes!
Made it for this Valentine day, but made more layers since I had left some chocolate butter cream from last month Challenge. So I added a layer with Choco buttercream plus some strawberry jelly… It was so flavored and delicious. Though the cake sink a bit and was not really fluffy. Could it be because I used the oven with the fan on? and actually the cake was ready a bit earlier as the cooking time indicated.
Thanks for this delicious recipe!
If I don’t have coffee, should I just use hot water?
Yes! I explain this in more detail in the pink box above the recipe.
How do I apply the sprinkles to the cake sides?
Use your hands to gently press the sprinkles to the frosting.
Can I cut this recipe in half to make a smaller cake? And would this hold up in a bundt pan?
Sure, it should be fine to halve this recipe! I haven’t tested this cake in a bundt pan though.
Looks delish! Can I substitute cake flour for AP flour?
I would recommend sticking to all-purpose flour!
The cake looks awesome. Will definitely try it out!
Don’t do too many cheat meals, but this looked too good. Totally worth the calories 🙂
Hi Tessa! I was wondering if using seedless jam would be okay or it would change the consistency or flavor too much?
Such detailed instructions meant that even me, an unskilled baker, was able to totally rock this cake. My kids and I made in for Valentine’s Day and finished the whole thing within the next couple of days. The strawberry buttercream is especially noteworthy. I highly recommend this cake- YUM!
I made this and it was truly moist but it exploded in my oven and the top was extremely bubbly and never developed a normal cake top but became like caramel. I used Ghirrardelli Premium Baking 100% Cocoa: Unsweetened Cocoa Powder and far as I can tell it is natural cocoa. Should I have used the Dutch process cocoa instead. I also used Expression Powder with hot water instead of the 1 cup of coffee. Any idea what I did wrong? I did weigh all ingredients in grams.
I made this for Valentine’s Day and it was a hit! Everybody loved the combination of the chocolate and strawberry! Even after two days the cake is still so moist. Thank you for the recipe
Can I subtitute buttermilk with sourcream oor Greek yogurt?
That looks fabulous – love buttercream and that looks so thick and yummy! Can’t wait to try it. I don’t bake very often but this looks totally doable.
I want to make cupcakes using this recipe. Would it be possible to use 1/2 of a chocolate covered strawberry on top of the buttercream frosting?
Is there a substitute for egg in this recipe?
I don’t work with egg substitutes, sorry!
If you do not add the coco powder will it be a vanilla cake and still taste good or do you have to add the coco powder?
Wow! Lovely Valentine’s Day Cake, we just added this cake to our menu, people love this chocolate and strawberry cake.
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
Thank you Tessa! I bake pretty often and this is
-BY FAR- the BEST chocolate cake recipe ever! :)))
My family went wild over it! They were saying it was the best cake I have baked while they were eating it!!
This is now my one and only chocolate cake recipe!
I made it exactly as your recipe read. I did put strawberry preserves between the cake layers instead of the buttercream icing to reduce the sweetness that icing brings, but I do this on all two layer cakes! Ps – be sure to let the cake cool before turning the layers onto the cooling rack or they will crack. This cake is soooooo moist! Many thanks Tessa!
Can this recipe be used in an 11×15 pan
How do I preserve the buttercream consistency while crumb coat is firming in frig.? (No room in freezer)
Lovely cake what is the cake tin size for this cake
I just made this cake. Not only is it fun to make, it is beautiful and delicious! I see me making it other times during the year!
Can this be made into cupcakes? If so, how long do you bake them for?
This looks amazing! Does freezing it make it easier to frost? And could I put it in the fridge if there is no room in the freezer 🙂
Yep! Did you watch the video?! You could put it in the fridge but it will take longer to firm up for frosting.
Do you freeze all your cakes before frosting, if so how long do you frost them for are they covered , uncovered, and with what ?
YOur cake is awesome. Will definitely try it out.
Your cake looks awesome. Will definitely try it out.
You are great
Your cake looks amazing! I have never made a homemade cake so what do I do with the buttermilk? Do I just add the powder buttermilk? Or do I mix the buttermilk powder with water and then add it to the recipe? I’m not sure what “buttermilk, shaken” means?
Just regular liquid buttermilk. When it sits in the container for a while it tends to settle and needs to be physically shaken to make cohesive again.
Wow! That cake is beyond beyond beyond beautiful!!!!!!
Oh WOWEEEE this is simply beautiful!! I love everything about it!!
Ohhh my the cake looks soooo yummmmmy! 🙂
I’m at a loss for words! This cake truly is a work of art!
Stunningly gorgeous! This cake is a Valentine’s Day showstopper!!!
wow, this looks amazing!! it’s gorgeous!
Beautiful job! It sounds delicious, I love the chocolate covered strawberries on top.
The cake is purely heaven! I love the chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream. It’s perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Wow that is just amazing! It looks so fudgy and chocolaty, mmm 🙂