The first time I made my 4-Layer Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Mousse Filling, it was a Valentine’s Day treat for my wife.
But it’s such a delicious and easy-to-make cake it’s made appearances for friends and family throughout the year.
Wouldn’t this cake be a great way to say I love you? Even if you just make it for yourself, self-love is a good thing!
Ingredients to make a chocolate cake with a strawberry mousse filling
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my chocolate cake with a strawberry mousse filling. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How do I make a Chocolate Cake?
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare four cake pans using parchment circles in the bottom of each pan and lightly coat the sides and parchment with butter.
*I use 9-inch cake pans for all my cakes.
- Blend the flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa and sugar together, set aside
- In the bowl of your mixer, whip softened butter and yogurt together (make sure all of your wet ingredients, including the eggs, are at room temperature).
- Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating them before adding another.
- Scrape down your bowl in between each addition.
- Add vanilla and mix until blended.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix just enough to blend them into the wet ingredients.
- Divide the cake batter between 4 cake pans, spreading the batter evenly using an offset spatula.
- Bake the layers for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the layers cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove them from the pan to continue cooling.
How do I make strawberry mousse?
To begin, start by sprinkling the gelatin over ¼ cup of water in a small bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the strawberries and sugar to the bowl of a food processor.
- Puree the strawberries and sugar until smooth.
- Transfer strawberry mixture to a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Remove from heat, and add the gelatin mixture to the strawberry mixture, stirring constantly until the gelatin dissolves.
*Cover and chill the strawberry mixture until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir the mixture every 10 minutes to keep it smooth.
- Whip cream at low speed until foamy; gradually increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form.
- Fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture until well blended.
- Cover and chill for 30 minutes or until the mixture has firmed up enough to be used as filling.
How do I make Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting?
- In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and set aside.
- Add Mascarpone to a large bowl and beat with ⅓ of the confectioner’s beating until smooth.
- Continue adding the remainder of the 10x sugar in two additions beating until smooth.
- When all the confectioner’s sugar has been incorporated, add the vanilla extract.
- Gradually add the melted chocolate to the mixture
- Whip the frosting until light and fluffy
- Begin frosting the cake as soon as the chocolate mascarpone frosting is finished. If you wait or refrigerate the frosting, it will set and be hard to work with.
- Frost the entire cake and garnish with chocolate chips.
If the frosting sets before you can use it, rewhip until fluffy.
Can’t you picture this on your table? Whether you make it for your significant other or a gathering of friends, it’s sure to be a hit!
This cake was as good as it looks. The strawberry mousse was light and flavorful and offered enough of a distraction from the chocolate to keep the flavors balanced.
Recipe FAQ’s:
Yes, you can. Cream cheese can be substituted in the frosting recipe. I prefer the creamier texture and less pronounced flavor of mascarpone to cream cheese, but they are easily substituted.
Yes, you can. Raspberries or blackberries would make a delicious mousse filling, but you would want to strain the seeds out of the pureed fruit before making the mousse.
You could also make a white chocolate mousse to use as a filling.
Yes, you can. Just divide the batter between the number of pans you want to use. You will have to adjust to a longer cooking time depending on how much batter you use in each pan.
Yes, you can. Make one and one-half times the recipe to make a thicker layer of strawberry mousse filling.
More Cake Recipes You’ll Love!
Chocolate Valentines Day Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 8 oz unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 3 large eggs
Strawberry Mousse Filling
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups strawberries fresh or frozen
- ½ cup graulated sugar
- 1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin
Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting
- 4 ounces semi sweet chocolate chopped
- 16 ounces Mascarpone
- 4 cups 500 g confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips to garnish top of cake
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Prepare 4 cake pans using parchment circles in the bottom of each pan and lightly coating the sides and paper with butter. I use 9 inch round cakes pans.
- Preheat oven to 350
- Blend flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa and sugar together, set aside
- Make sure all of your wet ingredients are at room temperature.
- In the bowl of your mixer whip softened butter and yogurt together .
- Add the eggs one at a time fully incorporating before adding another, and remember to scrape down your bowl in between each addition.
- Add vanilla and mix until blended
- Add the dry ingredients and mix just enough to blend them into the wet ingredients.
- Divide between 4 cake pans,spreading batter evenly using an offset spatula
- Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
- Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes then remove from pan to continue cooling.
Strawberry Mousse
- Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup water in a small bowl and let stand 5 minutes.
- In a food processor, puree 2 cups sliced strawberries and ½ cup granulated sugar until smooth.
- Transfer strawberry mixture to a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, and add gelatin water mixture to strawberry mixture, stirring constantly until gelatin dissolves.
- Cover and chill until slightly thickened about 30 minutes, stir the mixture every 10 minutes
- Whip cream at low speed until foamy; gradually increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form.
- Fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture until well blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes or just until mixture has thickened enough to be used as filling
- Spread about 1 cup Strawberry Mousse between each cake layer, cover and chill 3 hours or until mousse is set.
Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting
- In a double boiler melt chocolate, set aside.
- Add Mascarpone to a large bowl and beat with confectioner’s sugar in three additions until smooth.
- Add vanilla and gradually add the melted chocolate.
- Whip frosting until light and fluffy and frost cake immediately, before chocolate can set.
- Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of cake.
- Refrigerate cake until serving, but allow it to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Candace @ Cabot
I love that the cake uses Greek yogurt to keep it moist. It is just so beautiful. Love the four layers!
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks Candace, it was such a lovely cake and perfect for the holidays
Rosemerry
Chef Dennis, I am just now finding your recipe, but am eager to make this delicious sounding confection! Thank you, for sharing!
Jeannie
Can I cut down the sugar both for the cake and filling? My family like cakes, but the sugar-taste from most of cakes recipes always cover the taste of the cake itself.
Chef Dennis Littley
I have not made them with reduced sugar but I see no reason you can’t cut it back some Jeannine
Melissa
I made this cake yesterday, and it turned out beautifully. I am now eating a piece for breakfast in honor of your dad.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
-Melissa
Chef Dennis Littley
thank you Melissa, I appreciate your kind comment!
Sharon B.
I’m so glad I follow you on google + and thought to look here for a strawberry mousse filling! I’m making a pink champagne cake and think this will be lovely in it. Thanks so much! Sharon
Julee V
Dear Chef Dennis,
I have never worked with gelatin before. Was I supposed to add the gelatin packet to a couple tablespoons of cold water before I added it to the strawberry puree? It got all clumpy on me. The cake is gorgeous & thank you for sharing your story! =)
Chef Dennis
hi Julee
if you’re not use to using gelatin, then adding it to a little cool water first will make it easier, it can be a little tricky adding it into hot ingredients you have to whip it in quickly.
Thanks for the feedback and glad you enjoyed the cake and my story!
Cheers
Dennis
Victoria
Hello! This cake looks wonderful!
But I have a question, what size cake pan did you use or which should I use?
Chef Dennis
hi Victoria
I used 9″ rounds for my cake. Let me know how it turns out
Dennis
Victoria
Hi!
I had trouble with the cake because adding the liquid ingredients into the dry, I could not beat well.
And when I baked the cake got! : (
I have another question, is there to put the cake in the refrigerator once baked?
I’ll have to try again!
Chef Dennis
hi Victoria
If you had a problem blending everything together, you may want to try starting with the wet ingredients first and blending them all together first then adding in the dry. Also make sure all the wet ingredients are at room temperature, the butter should be soft but not mushy, but let the eggs and yogurt warm up longer so they are at room temp. That will help keep everything together. One of the problems is when cold products hit softened butter it starts to firm it back up.
I wouldn’t put the cake into the referigerator after baking unless you were going to wait to finish it. If you don’t have time to make the cake, you can also freeze the layers until you have time. Once completed with the mousse you’ll have to keep it refrigerated.
Dennis
Elena
Looks like a jummy cake but is it possible to replace the gelatine with something sutable for vegetarians?
Chef Dennis
hi Elena
probably the easiest substitution would be Agar-Agar, or Kosher Gelatin, most of them are Vegan.
Here are recommendations I found for Agar-Agar:
This flavorless gelling agent, derived from cooked and pressed seaweed, is available flaked, powdered, or in bars. For best results, grind the agar-agar in a coffee grinder or food processor and then cook it, stirring it regularly until it dissolves. When used in a recipe, agar-agar sets in about an hour and doesn’t require refrigeration to gel. For a firmer gel, add more agar-agar, and for a softer gel, add more liquid. And don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time—you can fix a faux pas simply by reheating the gel. Here’s a general guide on how to use agar in recipes:
• Substitute powdered agar-agar for gelatin using equal amounts.
• 1 Tbsp. of agar-agar flakes is equal to 1 tsp. of agar-agar powder.
• Set 2 cups of liquid using 2 tsp. of agar-agar powder, 2 Tbsp. of agar-agar flakes, or one bar.
• Keep in mind that highly acidic ingredients, such as lemons, strawberries, oranges, and other citrus fruits, may require more agar-agar than the recipe calls for. Also, enzymes in fresh mangoes, papaya, and pineapple break down the gelling ability of the agar-agar so that it will not set. Cooking these fruits before adding them to a recipe, however, neutralizes the enzymes so that the agar-agar can set.
Elena
thanks alot! will try it out!
Kate | Food Babbles
This cake looks absolutely divine! Love the strawberry mousse to offset the chocolate and that mascarpone frosting… That sounds amazing! Lovely cake.
Kimby | a little lunch
Truly a heartwarming story, Dennis. Wonderful cake, too! Happy Valentine’s Day to you & your wife.
Sprigs of Rosemary
I well remember the Bill Cosby skit about cake for breakfast. Still makes me laugh. The cake is nothing to laugh at, though. A marvelous new creation.
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
Cake for breakfast sounds just perfect to me! Love the chocolate mascarpone frosting!
anna
what a beautiful cake! love the strawberry touch, perfect for valentine’s. thanks for sharing about your dad…we aren’t a military family, but i’ve wondered, watching movies and seeing so much casual violence how that might affect those who’ve actually witnessed those things in real life. makes you less likely to cheer when all the faceless ‘bad guys’ get gunned down…
Betty Ann @Mango_Queen
Oh my goodness, it is so hard to look away from this chocolate cake. And what a great story about your dad. It made me feel nostalgic for my own parents. Thanks for sharing this cake, Chef Dennis. Bookmarked it, will bake it soon.
Minnie@thelady8home
Your Dad sounds so wonderful…you must miss him. Isn’t it amazing how seemingly incongruent things are the very ones that we associate our near and dear ones by even long after they are gone? A world war hero and chocolate cake…..so touching. Thank you for sharing this little tit bit with us.That is such a delicious looking cake!! Mascarpone frosting too! I can have that for breafast any day!