Strawberry Champagne Cake

This bubbly, bright and beautiful cake is sure to delight any (champagne) lover. This layered cake highlights the classic pairing of strawberries and champagne.

This cake is so me! I love all things pink and who can’t resist a glass of bubbly?? I love everything from the pink frosting to the chocolate covered strawberries and sprinkle medley. This cake is perfect for Valentine’s Day! It would also make for the perfect centrepiece for a Galentine’s Day Brunch. The fresh strawberries paired with the effervescent Champagne make for one delicious cake.

The champagne and strawberries pair so well together… it’s no wonder they are a classic pairing! While this cake has a few different components - they all come together fairly quick! If you would like to make a few things in advanced the cake layers can be made in advanced and frozen. Just fill and frost as usual from frozen. The layers will thaw out beautifully. The strawberry champagne filling can also be made a day in advanced and kept in an airtight container in the fridge.

The champagne syrup really helps to infuse the cake with champagne flavour. It adds the perfect amount of sweetness and flavour to the cakes, while helping to keep the cake layers nice and moist. It is best to infuse this into the cake while the syrup is still hot. The filling is bright and fresh. The strawberry really shines through. The cake itself is moist and has a wonderful crumb. It shockingly (for me anyways) doesn’t have any butter but is an oil based cake. I love the flavour of it paired with the strawberry champagne filling.

I have a love for tall cakes and this one does not disappoint. It has great height which is perfect for a chocolate ganache drip. I like to use a spoon to add the drips where I want them down the sides of the cake and then go back and fill in the top using an off set spatula. I used a small (375ml) bottle of champagne for this cake. It was the perfect size. I had enough bubbly for the syrup and the filling (and a glass to sip).

Strawberry Champagne Cake

Makes: one 6 inch cake

Ingredients

For the Cake

3 ½ c flour

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

4 eggs

2 c sugar

1 c canola oil   

1 c milk

1 tsp vanilla

Champagne Syrup

½ c champagne

2 tbsp sugar

Strawberry Champagne Filling

1 ½  c strawberries, diced

½ c champagne

½ c water

½ c sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

Vanilla Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups icing sugar

2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract

1-3 tbsp heavy cream (optional)

Red Gel Food Colouring

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

4-6 Strawberries

½ c white chocolate chips, melted

sprinkles (optional)

White Chocolate Glaze

½ c white chocolate chips

¼ c heavy cream

Directions

For the cake: Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6 inch cake pans, set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, over medium speed beat together eggs and sugar. The mixture should lighten in colour and increase in volume. Continue mixing until very light in colour and almost tripled in volume (about 5 minutes). With the mixer on low-medium speed, continuously add the oil, mix until just combined.  

Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk and vanilla, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, do not over mix. Evenly pour batter between the three prepared pans. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Champagne Syrup: In a small saucepan, over medium heat combine champagne and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and let reduce by half.

For the Strawberry Champagne Filling: In a small saucepan, over medium heat, combine strawberries, champagne, water and sugar. Stir occasionally. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half. Using an immersion blender, puree mixture until smooth. Bring mixture back to a boil and whisk in corn starch. Allow filling to cool completely before use.

For the Buttercream: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in icing sugar, one cup at a time, until well combined. Beat in vanilla & gel food colouring. Optional - beat in heavy cream 1 tbsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.

For the Chocolate Covered Strawberries: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dip strawberries in white chocolate and place on parchment paper. Top with sprinkles if using. Let chocolate set completely before using.

For the Chocolate Ganache: Heat heavy cream until almost boiling (about 30 seconds to a minute in the microwave). Pour over chocolate chips and stir until smooth.

To Assemble: Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip with buttercream. Place one layer of cake on your cake board or serving dish. Brush cake layer with hot champagne syrup. Pipe a ring or dam of frosting around cake layer. Fill with strawberry champagne filling. Top with cake layer and continue to fill and stack cake. Once the last cake layer is placed, chill cake in fridge for 10-15 minutes to allow cake to set. Apply a crumb coat of frosting and allow cake to chill for another 10-15 minutes. Frost cake as desired. Top cake with white chocolate ganache and chocolate covered strawberries.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

A decadent, moist chocolate cupcake frosted with a luscious fresh strawberry buttercream and topped with a succulent chocolate covered strawberry! Perfect for Valentine's Day!

It only seemed appropriate to kick off February with these chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes! I am so excited for all things Valentine's Day! Give me all the pink, chocolate and sappy rom-coms! Is there anything more quintessentially Valentine's Day than chocolate covered strawberries? I knew that I wanted to take this Valentine's Day classic and turn it into a cupcake. The fresh strawberry buttercream is seriously delicious! The strawberry puree not only adds flavour to the buttercream but also turns it a beautiful soft pink colour. I went with my Classic Chocolate Cupcake recipe for the base - why mess with a good thing? And topped the cupcakes with their very own chocolate covered strawberry - can you tell I am huge fan of two desserts in one?Whether its your BFF, sweetheart or child, your valentine is sure to love these cupcakes!  

Tips for Achieving the Perfect Chocolate Covered Strawberries

• When melting your chocolate for your berries, I would recommend melting it in the microwave on medium heat for 20-30 second increments. Between each increment, remove the chocolate from the microwave and stir, repeat this until the chocolate is completely melted.

• It is important to make sure that your strawberries are completely dry and free of any water or excess moisture. If there are any water droplets on the berries it will cause the chocolate to seize up.

• Place your chocolate in a deep bowl or small cup to use when dipping your chocolate. Hold your berry by the stem and dip one side of the strawberry, followed by the other.

• Place your freshly dipped strawberry on wax paper to set up.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

with a fresh strawberry buttercream

Makes: 1 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

1/4 c hot water 

1/4 c cocoa powder 

1/2 tsp instant coffee 

1 c flour 

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 c butter, cut into cubes

1 c sugar 

2 eggs, at room temperature 

2 tsp vanilla 

1/2 c sour cream 

For the Frosting

1 c butter, at room temperature

3 c icing sugar 

1/2 c strawberry puree*

For the Chocolate Covered Strawberries

12 -15 Strawberries 

1 c semi sweet chocolate chips, melted

Directions

For the Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with liners. In a small bowl, whisk together hot water, cocoa powder and instant coffee. In another medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

In a small sauce pan, over medium heat combine the butter and sugar. Stir occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted. Remove from heat and pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. On medium, beat butter & sugar mixture until it begins to thicken and pales in colour (approx. 4-5 mins). You want to ensure the mixture has cooled slightly before adding your eggs. Add eggs one at a time, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add in vanilla and cocoa mixture. Mix until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour, followed by the sour cream, ending with the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated.

Divide batter evenly into prepared cupcake liners. Fill liners 1/2-2/3rds of the way full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Frosting

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, on medium speed beat the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in icing sugar until light and fluffy. Finally, beat in strawberry puree until just combined.

*To make the strawberry puree, blend fresh strawberries using either an immersion blender or regular blender until smooth. 

For the Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Dip strawberries in melted chocolate and let set on parchment paper

Assemble the cupcakes

Frost cupcakes as desired. Top with chocolate covered strawberry before serving. Assembled cupcakes keep for up to 3 days in the fridge but are best served fresh.