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Prep time
50 minutes
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Cook time
30 minutes
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Serves
16 to 20
Author Notes
This birthday cake basically tastes like the best chocolate strawberry Hostess Suzy-Q you ever did have—and I mean that in a good way. The cake is one-bowl and deeply chocolate-y. It is tender and moist and crumbles a bit as you take each bite. And the frosting is fluffy and fruity and light. The lemon juice in the frosting amps up the flavor of the strawberries, and a drop of red food coloring though optional, will brighten the color, if you so desire. This cake is unabashedly pink and it is one of my younger son’s absolute faves for his b-day. But I’m thinking it’d be just as lovely for Valentine’s Day. —Jessie Sheehan
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Ingredients
- For the cake
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2 cups
cake flour, sifted
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3/4 cup
Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
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1 cup
packed light brown sugar
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1 cup
granulated sugar
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1 3/4 teaspoons
baking powder
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1 teaspoon
baking soda
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1 teaspoon
table salt
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1
egg, room temperature
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2
egg yolks, room temperature, save the whites for the frosting
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1 tablespoon
pure vanilla extract
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1/2 cup
vegetable oil
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1 cup
sour cream, room temperature
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1 cup
boiling water
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1 tablespoon
espresso powder
- For the frosting
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1 cup
sliced strawberries, plus more for decorating
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2
egg whites
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1/2 cup
plus 2 tablespoons, granulated sugar
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1/4 teaspoon
cream of tartar
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1/4 cup
light corn syrup
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1/8 teaspoon
table salt
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1 1/2 teaspoons
lemon juice, or more to taste
Directions
- For the cake
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13-by-9-by-2-in pan with nonstick cooking spray or softened butter and line with parchment paper.
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Add the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on low speed until well combined.
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In a small bowl, or in a large 4-cup liquid measuring cup (my preference), add the egg, egg yolks, vanilla, oil, and sour cream and whisk until combined. With the mixer on medium-low speed, slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Beat until incorporated, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
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In the same small bowl/measuring cup, no need to clean it, combine the boiling water and espresso powder and add to the batter in the mixer bowl. Mix again on medium speed for 30 seconds, until smooth, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. The batter will be quite thin
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Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 28 to 32 minutes, rotating at the halfway point. The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a moist crumb or two. Let cool completely in the pan. Or let cool enough so you can comfortably handle it, and invert the cake on to a serving plate to continue cooling. If you would rather serve slices directly from the pan, let cool to room temp before frosting.
- For the frosting
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In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, or in a blender, process the berries until pureed. Place a sieve over a small bowl, pour the puree into the sieve, and using a rubber spatula, press the puree through the sieve to remove the seeds. Set aside.
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Add the egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar, and salt in the now-cleaned bowl of the stand mixer and nestle it in a saucepan of simmering water over medium-high heat. Donot allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water. Whisk until the mixture is just warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the heat, add the puree and transfer it to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed until stiff and glossy, about 7 minutes. Add the lemon juice and whisk a final time to combine.
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Once the cake is cool, generously frost it and sprinkle the top with pink sanding sugar. The frosted cake is best served within a few hours with a few sliced strawberries on each plate - or, a scoop of strawberry ice cream - I mean this is a birthday cake, after all.
Jessie Sheehan is a celebrated cookbook author, recipe developer, baker, and host of Cherry Bombe’s baking podcast, She’s My Cherry Pie. She is the self-proclaimed queen of “easy-peasy baking;” and has contributed recipes and writing to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Epicurious, Food52, Bon Appetit, and more. Her third cookbook, Snackable Bakes: 100 Easy-Peasy Recipes for Exceptionally Scrumptious Sweets and Treats was a New York Times best cookbook of 2022. And its savory sibling Salty, Cheesy, Herby Crispy Snackable Bakes, was published in the fall of 2024.
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