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Chocolate Kahlua Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients:

  • 3 Cup flour
  • 3 Cup Sugar
  • 1 1/2 Cup special dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup regular unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 C sour cream
  • 1 C buttermilk
  • 1 C warm water
  • 1/2 cup Kahlua
  • 1/2 tsp espresso powder
  • 1/2 C canola oil
  • 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting ingredients:

  • 2 C unsalted sweet cream butter softened
  • 6 C powdered sugar
  • 4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 C finely diced strawberries
  • 5-7 TBSP heavy whipping cream
  • Strawberries for topping
  • 1 large piping bag fitted with star tip
  • Large ice cream scooper

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

  • 1 C semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
  • 1 large squeeze bottle

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray three 9 in cake pans with pam baking spray
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the espresso, kahlua and the warm water until combined
  • Using your standing mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt until combined
  • Gradually add in the eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, espresso, oil and vanilla extract until combined and Divide the batter between the 3 pans
  • Place in the oven to bake for 25-35 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean
  • Allow cakes to cool for 20 minutes

Frosting Directions:

  • Pat diced strawberries VERY dry with paper towels
  • Using a standing mixer, cream together the butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, diced strawberries and heavy whipping cream until combined and creamy and stiff with peaks
  • Beat frosting 2–3 minutes longer than you think on medium-high at the end
    This traps air and gives that whipped, cloud-like texture you see in the slice.
  • Scoop 1 C of frosting into the piping bag

Directions to build the cake

  • Place 1 layer of cake onto the cake board
  • Using the ice cream scooper, scoop out 4-6 scoops of frosting and smooth evenly on one layer of cake
  • Place another layer of cake on top and spread more frosting
  • Place the last layer on top and frost the remaining cake with remaining frosting

Chocolate ganache directions

  • Using a small pot, heat up the heavy whipping cream until steaming
  • While heavy whipping cream is heating up, place chocolate chips into a heat-proof bowl
  • Once the heavy whipping cream is heated, pour over the chocolate chips
  • Allow to sit for 1 minute before whisking until smooth
  • Pour ganache into the squeeze bottle
  • Pipe dollops of ganache over the edge of the cake
  • Pipe dollops of frosting onto the top of the cake
  • Place strawberries into the dollops of frosting
  • Cut and serve and enjoy

Notes

This recipe was tested with the goal of creating a tall, moist, bakery style chocolate layer cake with clean layers and a smooth strawberry buttercream finish just like the photo and it absolutely delivers when a few key details are followed closely, the cake bakes up dark, rich and tender with sturdy layers that stack cleanly without sinking, using a combination of special dark cocoa powder and regular unsweetened cocoa keeps the color deep without drying the crumb, mixing only until combined prevents density while baking just until a few moist crumbs remain ensures softness, chilling the cake layers before assembling makes slicing and stacking easier and keeps the layers neat and even, finely dicing and lightly blotting the strawberries prevents excess moisture so the buttercream stays thick smooth and pipeable, using an ice cream scoop helps keep frosting layers uniform for a professional look, allowing the ganache to cool slightly before dripping creates a glossy controlled finish, the Kahlua enhances the chocolate flavor without tasting boozy while the espresso deepens the cocoa notes, and when these steps are followed the finished cake is moist stable easy to frost and visually matches the final cake shown making this a reliable repeatable recipe that looks impressive while still being approachable for home bakers!