Strawberry Chocolate Cake

🧂 Ingredients

• 500 g strawberries

  fresh or frozen
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 190 g all-purpose flour
• 75 g natural cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 115 g unsalted butter

  melted
• 100 g light-tasting oil
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 100 g brown sugar
• 2 large eggs

  room temperature
• 330 g milk

  room temperature
• 250 g cream cheese

  softened to room temperature
• 115 g unsalted butter

  softened to room temperature
• 100 g powdered sugar
• 70 g strawberry jam

  from above
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 200 g strawberries

  finely diced
• 7 strawberries

  halved for decoration

Instructions

• 1 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.
• 2 Cool: Transfer the jam to a small bowl and let it cool completely in the fridge
  until you're ready to use it.
• 3 Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of two 6" round cake pans with
  parchment paper rounds. Set aside.
• 4 Dry mixture: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking
  powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• 5 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.
• 6 Combine into batter: Alternate adding half of the flour mixture and then half of
  the milk, mixing until just combined after each addition.
• 7 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.
• 8 Bake: Bake cakes for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out
  mostly clean with some crumbs attached.
• 9 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.
• 10 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.
• 11 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.
• 12 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.
• 13 Frosting ring: On a cake turntable, lay down the first cake layer. Pipe a ring
  of frosting around the edge of the cake.
• 14 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.
• 15 Repeat: Top with the next cake layer and repeat with the rest of the filling and
  cake layers.
• 16 Crumb coat: Apply a thin layer of frosting to the cake as a crumb coat and
  scrape away the excess with a cake scraper.
• 17 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.

Nutrition Info