This heart-shaped cake is super easy to make with a chocolate cake mix. Topped with bright strawberry buttercream, it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day!
I hope you’ll forgive me for this halfway homemade chocolate-strawberry cake, but it’s decadently delicious. It is perfectly chocolatey, with a bright strawberry buttercream, and made with love! The base of this cake is made with a chocolate cake mix. Add some milk, oil, and eggs and bake it, and the cake part is done. Whew. Halfway there already! Next, make a homemade strawberry buttercream (it’s so easy, and tempting to eat by itself—but trust me, it’s even better on the cake!) and a decorative/edible topping of chocolate-covered strawberries!
You could also use my homemade strawberry cake as one of the layers. It would be a really decadent chocolate strawberry experience—completely from scratch! You could also use my funfetti cake or vanilla bean cake for a birthday or wedding heart-shaped cake!
Table of contents
Why You Will Love This Tutorial:
- An easy dessert that will impress! We have all been there: We need a cake but don’t have the time. This cake is the answer! It’s super easy to make and equally delicious!
- A bright and perfectly sweet buttercream. Using fresh strawberries gives the buttercream a well-rounded flavor that isn’t too sweet and gives it a perfect pale pink color.
- You can make it with your favorite cake! The great thing about this recipe is that you can substitute yours or your friend’s favorite cake!
Professional Tips for Making a Heart Shaped Cake
- Make sure your buttercream is the right consistency. American buttercream is great because you can easily adjust the buttercream’s consistency. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar, if it’s too thick, add more milk.
- Macerate your strawberries overnight with a little bit of sugar and lemon juice for more flavor. Valentine’s Day falls during a time of year when strawberries aren’t at their best. Let’s help them be their best by cutting them, mixing them with a little bit of granulated sugar and lemon juice, and allowing them to sit overnight in the fridge for a more well-rounded strawberry flavor.
- Layer cold cake. Allow the cake to cool completely before layering. Cold cakes from the fridge layer better and help keep the cakes from sliding while frosting.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chocolate Cake Mix: Use your favorite chocolate cake mix. I like to use Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake.
- Fresh Strawberries: You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. If using frozen, defrost them slightly and strain them.
- Lemon Juice: When working with lemon juice, you know what I say: fresh is always best. The lemon helps accentuate the strawberry flavor.
- Butter: In frostings and buttercreams, the butter is used for stability. It will firm up when cold, which helps the buttercream support the cake layers.
- Confectioner’s Sugar: Confectioner’s sugar is used in American buttercreams because it is ground finely into a powder. This allows it to create a smooth, silky buttercream without having to be heated.
- Milk: Whole milk helps get the consistency you are looking for in the buttercream. You could also use more lemon juice, or any other milk alternative.
- Vanilla Extract
- Chocolate-covered Strawberries: These are optional, of course, but you could make your own by following my instructions on tempering dark chocolate on CLF!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Make the cake from scratch! You can make this heart shaped cake with my moist chocolate cake or the vanilla cake from my vanilla cupcakes! Vanilla would be so nice for bridal showers, baby showers, engagements, really any special occasion.
- Change the buttercream. Use raspberry buttercream from my raspberry cupcakes for a delicious raspberry chocolate heart cake! Also, try it with my chocolate fudge frosting, vanilla buttercream, or the chocolate buttercream frosting from my classic yellow cake recipe! You could make little rosettes or swirls with the pink frosting to be super cute.
- Add a filling. Using the buttercream to create a dam on the edge of the cake, you could fill it with strawberry jam, chocolate ganache, or caramel sauce!
How to Make a Homemade Heart Shaped Cake
Use these instructions to make a perfect heart shaped cake every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Make the cake:
Step 1: Heat the oven to 350°F for a light metal pan or 325°F for dark, nonstick or glass pan. Grease and flour bottoms and sides of 2 heart-shaped pans. If you don’t have a novelty cake pan in the shape of the heart, you can use two 9-inch round cake pans or three 8-inch round cake pans for round cake layers!
Step 2: Prepare the cake ingredients as directed on the cake mix box.
Step 3: Divide the batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake 25 to 35 minutes until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool cakes for 10 minutes in pans, then carefully remove from pans and cool completely on a cooling rack for about 1 hour.
Once cooled to room temperature, refrigerate the cake to make layering and frosting easier.
Make the buttercream:
Step 4: While the cakes are cooling, blend strawberries and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until fully pureed.
Strain the pureed strawberries and lemon for a smoother puree.
Step 5: Pour the puree into a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 10 to 15 minutes until it reduces to about 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
Step 6: Pour the puree into a heat-proof container and cover with plastic wrap. Cool completely to room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Step 7: In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. This may take a few minutes. (If your butter was at room temperature, this will take only a few seconds.)
Step 8: Add the strawberry mixture and mix for 1 to 2 minutes on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Beat in powdered sugar on medium speed 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is smooth.
If your powdered sugar is lumpy I suggest shifting it first. The lumps won’t come out during the mixing process.
Step 9: Add the milk and vanilla; stir to combine. Increase the speed to high and beat for 1 minute more until the frosting is creamy and fluffy.
Place the frosting into a piping bag for easier application.
Assemble cake:
Step 10: Place the first cake layer on a serving plate, cardboard base, turntable, or cutting board. Frost the top generously with frosting. Top with the next layer of cake; frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
Step 11: If desired, make extra frosting for a crumb coating. You can decorate this cake with chocolate-covered strawberries! I think this cake is easiest to cut and serve with a serrated knife. Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To make chocolate covered strawberries:
Melt 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Dip strawberries halfway into the chocolate mixture, then transfer to wax paper or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the unfrosted chocolate cake well-wrapped at room temperature or in the freezer. Unfrosted cake can be kept at room temperature for three days, in the fridge for a week, or frozen for up to two months! Store unused frosting in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Once frosted, the cake can be kept at room temperature for up to three days.
Yes, you can make this heart shaped cake without a heart shaped pan. Grab two round, 8-inch cake pans and bake your cake.Then, once cooled, use a ruler to mark two lines 5 inches long to form a 90-degree angle for the pointed part of the heart. Cut the cakes along those lines with your knife. Press the pieces of cake against the top of the cake to make the top of the heart. Then, cut a small V into the cake to create the dip. Use a little buttercream to adhere the pieces to the main cake, then chill the cake in the freezer. This makes it so much easier to handle and frost the cake.
You can never go wrong with festive sprinkles! You can also make a 1.5x batch of the buttercream and use it to pipe a border on your cake.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below! I love hearing from you and your comments make my day!
Heart-Shaped Cake
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake:
- 13.25 ounces chocolate cake mix
- 1 cup milk, or water
- ½ cup vegetable oil, or melted butter
- 3 large eggs
For the strawberry buttercream:
- 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, stems and leaves removed
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- chocolate-covered strawberries, for topping (optional)*
Instructions
- Make the cake:
- Heat the oven to 350°F for a light metal pan or 325°F for dark, nonstick or glass pan. Grease and flour bottoms and sides of 2 heart shaped pans. If you don’t have a novelty cake pan in the shape of the heart, you can use two 9-inch round cake pans or three 8-inch round cake pans for round cake layers!
- Prepare the cake ingredients as directed on the cake mix box.
- Divide the batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake 25 to 35 minutes until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool cakes for 10 minutes in pans, then carefully remove from pans and cool completely on a cooling rack for about 1 hour.
- Make the buttercream:
- While the cakes are cooling, blend strawberries and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until fully pureed.
- Pour the puree into a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 10 to 15 minutes until it reduces to about 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
- Pour the puree into a heat-proof container and cover with plastic wrap. Cool completely to room temperature or in the refrigerator.
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. This may take a few minutes. (If your butter was at room temperature, this will take only a few seconds.)
- Add the strawberry mixture and mix for 1 to 2 minutes on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Beat in powdered sugar on medium speed 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is smooth.
- Add the milk and vanilla; stir to combine. Increase the speed to high and beat for 1 minute more until the frosting is creamy and fluffy.
- Assemble cake:
- Place the first cake layer on a serving plate, cardboard base, turntable, or cutting board. Frost the top generously with frosting. Top with the next layer of cake; frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
- If desired, make extra frosting for a crumb coating. You can decorate this cake with chocolate-covered strawberries! I think this cake is easiest to cut and serve with a serrated knife. Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- *To make chocolate covered strawberries: Melt 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Dip strawberries halfway into the chocolate mixture, then transfer to wax paper or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this professional chef created recipe. Check out our other delicious cake recipes including my chocolate cupcakes!
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say excellent blog!
Hi there! Sorry you had some trouble, but thanks for your kind words! Happy baking! ~gvd team