Chocolate and strawberries are yum. Chocolate and raspberries are yummier. And chocolate and both strawberries and raspberries are the ultimate yummiest! Case and point, this delectable Chocolate Berry cake. I’ve got a brand new chocolate cake recipe and it’s oh so wonderfully fluffy with that rich moist chocolate flavour reminiscent of a devil’s food cake. Paired with a strawberry raspberry buttercream…this Chocolate Berry cake is plate-licking good.
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Chocolate Berry Cake
Intense chocolate cake layers that are both fluffy and moist. Covered in a sweet whipped berry buttercream full of real berries. A delicate balance of rich chocolate and sweet berry that sings on the tastebuds. This chocolate berry cake is not only easy to make but will have both the chocolate lover and fruit lover rejoicing!
How To Make Chocolate Cake Layers
Let’s talk about these cake layers first then shall we? I used a whole cup of cocoa powder in it. No skimping allowed. Full deep and flavourful chocolate going on here. To intensify that chocolate flavour, I mixed in hot milk. Not room temperature, not warm, but hot. This allows the cocoa to “bloom” and creates flavour depth. And trust me when I say it makes a difference. It truly does.
Berry Buttercream Frosting From Scratch
Next up is that berrylicious (is that a word?!) whipped buttercream. No fake flavours here. Real strawberries and raspberries going into this frosting. Starting with equal parts of strawberry and raspberry, I created a basic cornstarch-based filling. After the filling thickened and cooled, it went straight into my basic dairy-free American buttercream and whipped to fluffy berry perfection.
Dark Chocolate Ganache Cake Drip
Last, but never least, after much humming and hawing I decided to top this cake with a decadent dairy-free dark chocolate ganache drip. It adds one more layer of chocolate yum and really ties the final design and overall cake aesthetic together.
Final Chocolate Berry Cake Decoration
A crown of dark chocolate Oreos and the most stunning burgundy carnations brought Berry Chocolate cake together in a superbly romantic fashion. As usual, we ate this one over Sunday Family Cake and to say it went over well would be an understatement. I have video proof of my youngest daughter licking her plate clean. I hope you love it as much as we did. So much so, that you too, lick your plate clean!
Chocolate Lover Treats
Love a chocolate cake or dessert? Try these ones out next!
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Chocolate Berry Cake
- Total Time: 2 Hrs. 23 Min.
- Yield: 10 Slices 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
The best chocolate berry cake recipe with four deeply rich chocolate layers covered in a fresh whipped berry buttercream frosting. The perfect cake for the chocolate lover in your life.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour *can sub gluten-free flour 1:1 baking blend
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups dairy-free milk, hot
- 1 cup all-vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Berry Buttercream
- ¾ cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
- ¾ cup strawberries, fresh or frozen
- ⅛ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups dairy-free butter, room temperature
- 4 ½ cups icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Dark Chocolate Ganache Drip
- ½ cup dairy-free dark chocolate
- 2 tablespoons dairy-free milk
Decorations
- Dark Chocolate Oreos
- Red Carnations
- Fresh raspberries
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray with non-stick baking spray four 6 inch round cake pans.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, mix together all the dry ingredients with the whisk attachment until fully combined.
- Add in the wet ingredients, making sure the milk is hot, and combine until just incorporated.
- Divide the batter equally into the four prepared cake pans and bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then invert on a cooling rack to fully cool.
Berry Buttercream
- In a medium pot over medium heat, combine the raspberries, strawberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice and stir with a spatula until combined.
- Bring to a boil and allow the mixture to thicken. This should take approx 5 minutes. Once thickened remove from the heat.
- Pour the berry mixture into a shallow container and cover the surface gently with plastic wrap and allow to fully cool.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on high for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in the icing sugar and salt and mix on low until fully combined.
- Add in the fully cooled berry mixture and mix until combined.
- Turn the mixer up to high and let mix for 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary.
Dark Chocolate Ganache Drip
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the dark chocolate chips and milk in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until fully melted and smooth. *
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Depending on the kind of milk, the drip may require a touch more milk to thin or a bit more dark chocolate chips to thicken. *I always test my ganache drips over the edge of the kitchen sink before applying it to a cake to check the consistency.
Cake Assembly:
- Place on leveled layer of chocolate cake on a plate, cake board, and/or cake turntable with a small dollop of buttercream.
- Top with approximately 1 cup of buttercream and spread evenly. Repeat this step with the remaining layers.
- Cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Apply a final coat of buttercream around the entire cake. Smooth the sides and scrape off excess buttercream from the top edge. Chill for another 10 minutes while the chocolate ganache drip is prepared.
- With a piping bag or spoon, carefully drip the chocolate ganache over the edges of the cake. Allow it to chill in the refrigerator for another 10 minutes.
- Decorate as you desire. I finished the cake off with a top border crown of dark chocolate Oreos, raspberries, and fresh carnations. Enjoy!
Notes
* The ganache can be made in a double boiler if desired.
- Prep Time: 2 Hrs.
- Cook Time: 23 Min.
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 737
- Sugar: 67 Grams
- Sodium: 832 Miligrams
- Fat: 44 Grams
- Saturated Fat: 29 Grams
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 Grams
- Trans Fat: 4 Grams
- Carbohydrates: 85 Grams
- Fiber: 3 Grams
- Protein: 7 Grams
- Cholesterol: 118 Miligrams
Keywords: cake, dairy-free chocolate cake, chocolate berry cake, dairy-free chocolate berry cake, chocolate berry cake recipe, vegan chocolate berry cake recipe, vegan chocolate berry cake
Looks sooo yummy 😋. What can I substitute for vegetable shortening?
★★★★★
You can sub in more butter! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out!
Amazing flavors! Perfect chocolate cake!!! I used dairy products and turn out great! Soooo deliciousssss 😋😋
★★★★★
Yay! I am thrilled to hear you loved it. Thanks for making it.
Where is this evil fudgy chocolate cake recipe you talk about? I love fluffy, but fudgy is sooooo good. Thanks 😁
★★★★★
You are looking for the double chocolate cake. It is fudgy to the max!
I came across this cake in Instagram and didn’t think twice before making it for my birthday.
It was super delicious and everyone at home loved it. It was really moist and the Berry buttercream was yummy.
I am honored that you picked this one to make for your birthday cake Dona!
This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it. Is it okay to use products that have dairy instead of dairy free or will that change the recipe outcome?
Yes, this recipe will translate fine with dairy ingredients! I’m excited to hear what you think!
Holy! I have never had such an amazing chocolate cake before!
★★★★★
This was so good! So rich and chocolatee! I know thats not a word, but im making it one. Thanks for this recipe!
★★★★★
Thanks for making it Betty. And I totally think chocolatee should be a word!
I made this cake for my sons first birthday. Added some blue food colouring to make it more “boy birthday” like. It was soooo good. The berry frosting was delicious. I’ve made both chocolate cakes by Katie now and I think I prefer this one, it’s lighter and just so stinking good. Everyone looooved it. Thanks Katie
★★★★★
Your cake turned out amazing!!! Thanks for trying this recipe and happy birthday to your little one!
This cake is amazing! I think it’s a new favourite. It was great for a birthday cake a nice light chocolate cake, that’s moist and flavourful, but also looks so pretty when sliced. Almost didn’t add the chocolate ganache but glad I did it definitely completes the cake. And the buttercream … oh man so good… don’t make it first or you might get too busy eating the icing you forget to make the cake!
★★★★★
Oh my goodness, Heidi, that’s too funny! I definitely found myself eating this frosting by the spoonful.
Chocolate cake has never been so moist and fluffy. I ate so much of the icing before it even made it onto the cake. Great recipe.
★★★★★
Oh gosh Deidre, that makes me so happy to hear. Thank you for sharing.
My new regular chocolate cake recipe. So easy to make and so delicious.
★★★★★
I am so happy to hear you love this one. It’s on repeat in my kitchen too.
I was too scared to try a stacked cake like what you did but I baked it in a long pan and it worked awesome. Super moist chocolate cake.
★★★★★
I am so glad to hear you enjoyed it! Great idea for when you don’t want to stack a cake!
I made these as cupcakes and they turned out great. Super moist and very chocolatey.
★★★★★
This recipe is truly the moistest chocolate cake. Thanks for giving it a go!
While this cake turned out decent tasting, this recipe needs severe editing. The entire buttercream section tells you to melt ALL the ingredient together, DO NOT DO THAT. Only down to the lemon juice, or you’ll end up with a jam that is a mess to try and fix, unless you redo it all. The ganache should really be done over a double boiler, the microwave method outlined here lead to a gooey, clumpy mess (no, the chocolate was not over or under cooked). Also I definitely recommend lining your cake pans with parchment paper for easy removal.
Overall, cake turned out good, but the wording of the recipe instructions needs editing.
★★★
Oh my goodness Al, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you pointing that wording error out to me. Thank you SO much. I have reivsed it and hopefully save the trouble for everyone else. My sincerest apologies.
Hello
Is it possible to use buttermilk on this recipe?
Yes, you absolutely can! A few things to note: when you warm the buttermilk up it will possibly separate. It doesn’t mean it’s gone bad, you simply need to give it a brisk whisk together to fully incorporate all that yummy buttermilk fat back into it. You can definitely use buttermilk for the chocolate ganache drip but it doesn’t make for a fabulous dripping consistency. I recommend using regular milk for that part. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thank you sooo much for your quick response. I will let you know. I love all your beautiful cakes and great heart messages
Blessings
Katie
I want to report that after making 4 delicious chocolate pancakes because I forgot to add baking soda the first time 😂… I made an additional 1/2 batch and the height was perfect!
Both batches were fluffy and I will be using all layers for a single cake. Thank you so much
★★★★★
Oh my goodness 😆 well, I’m so glad that they baked to perfection with the baking soda 😉 Enjoy!!!
I am curious what you use for non dairy milk? I know what to use for butter and chocolate but I drink Oat milk. Or sure that will work here. Thank you in advance!!
I use unsweetened almond milk but any kind of milk will work. Oat milk would be great!
Do you use regular cocoa powder or the dark cocoa powder? I am so excited to try this recipe!
I use regular cocoa powder but both will work.