A light chocolate cake topped with a delicious buttercream made with fresh strawberries. This is one of my simplest recipes, using my classic chocolate cake recipe combined with my fresh strawberry buttercream frosting. It’s quick, easy and completely moreish! The perfect cake for a special occasion and the ideal recipe for a Valentine’s Day surprise.
To make my super simple chocolate cake, I always start by making a basic cake mixture. Then after adding all of the ingredients together, I sprinkle in some cocoa powder and stir. I would recommend buying the best quality cocoa powder that you can, and always opt for cocoa powder over hot chocolate powder. It adds a better, stronger flavour to your bake and better quality powders are often easier to blend and don’t leave any grainy textures in the cake. You can also completely customise the chocolate level. If you’re a chocolate lover, add a little extra, if you’re not such a fan then add a little less.
The strawberry icing is the real showstopper on this cake. Made with fresh pureed strawberries in a classic buttercream frosting. The first thing that you need to do is blend fresh strawberries until you have a smooth paste. Add to a bowl along with the unsalted butter and blend them together. It will then create a thick, pink mixture. Add the icing sugar in 2 batches, mix everything together and you’re left with the most delicious, naturally coloured strawberry frosting. This is a slightly wet mixture, so I often place it in the fridge for roughly 30 minutes before adding to the cake.
The icing is still quite runny after this time, I have tried to pipe it, but it often loses its shape quite quickly, so it might be best to smooth on to your cake using a butter knife or palette knife for a ‘smeared’ effect.
Ingredients
- CAKE:
- 115 g / 4 oz Self Raising Flour
- 115 g / 4 oz Margarine (I always use Stork)
- 85 g / 3 oz Caster Sugar
- 2 Medium Eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Milk
- 2 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder, More or less, to taste
- ICING:
- 115 g / 4 oz Fresh Strawberries, blended
- 115 g / 4 oz Unsalted Butter
- 200 g / 7 oz Icing Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180*c/350*f/Gas Mark 4/160*c Fan Oven.
- Line a cupcake tin with cases and set aside
- Place the self raising flour, margarine, eggs, sugar and milk into a bowl and using an electric mixer beat together until light and fluffy, then stir through the cocoa powder until fully combined and spoon the mixture into your prepared tin.
- Cook for 16 to 20 minutes, until light and fluffy. You can tell it's ready when it springs back when lightly pressed. You could also insert a skewer into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, then the cake is ready.
- Once ready, remove from the oven.
- Allow the cakes to sit in the tin for roughly 5 minutes, then place on a wired rack to cool.
- Meanwhile, add the fresh blended strawberries to a bowl with the unsalted butter.
- Using your electric mixer, blend everything together until fully combined and you have a thick pink mixture.
- Add half of the icing sugar. Stir lightly with a spoon (this is to prevent a sugar explosion), then use your electric mixture to thoroughly combine. Repeating with the rest of the mixture.
- Place the icing in the fridge for roughly 30 minutes, to allow it to harden slightly.
- After this time remove from the fridge and add to the top of your cake. I have found that this is still quite a runny icing, which can be difficult to pipe. It may be easier to use a butter or pallet knife to 'smear' a tablespoon of icing on your cake.
Notes
Store in an airtight container, and keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.
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