Truth: I buy a lot of chocolate. Too much? Well that's just crazy talk. But a lot - yes. I chalk it up to savvy shopping. I don't want to go to the store every week just to stock up on chocolate, so instead I go once a month or so, buy a whole bunch of chocolate at once, and deal with a cashier who probably thinks I'm crazy buying a few pounds of chocolate and nothing else. I don't even know how many times someone's asked me, "Oh are you making (← insert dessert of choice here)?" And I usually just smile and come up with some response, because let's face it, I might not even know what I'm making yet. I just know I need chocolate.
The plus side to having tons of chocolate is that I always have backup when something goes wrong. Does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with chocolate? Because I do; if there's a way to destroy chocolate, chances are I've done it. And white chocolate is the worst. Making the white chocolate ganache for this bundt cake was like the bane of my existence. In fact, getting this cake perfect in general was a labor of love (and stress), and if it weren't for the fact that I knew it would be worth it in the end, I would have just dropped the whole idea. But two to three bags of white chocolate chips, a few pounds of strawberries, and three bundt cakes later, I give you my idea of Strawberry Bundt Cake perfection:
It wasn't that long ago that I first decided I actually like white chocolate at all. It's no dark chocolate, but I've finally come to see that it has it's place in the world of recipes with its creamy, sweet flavor. It didn't take long for me to start coming up with ways to incorporate it in my baking. Something just told me that it would be the perfect match for strawberries, and before I knew it, I was planning a strawberry cake, with a white chocolate ganache glaze, and chocolate-covered strawberries for garnish. This is what happens when you bake a lot; you come up with all these random recipe ideas that you may or may not have a legitimate excuse to make, but if you're me, your itch to try them usually gets the better of you.
Let me just put it out there: Strawberry Cake? Best idea ever. Especially when it's strawberry cake made from scratch. Fresh strawberries roasted with a little bit of sugar give this cake such a vibrant taste of strawberries that it honestly needs no glaze. In fact, eating cake for breakfast seems totally acceptable when it's left plain, and this cake without the fancy toppings was heaven for breakfast. Light and moist and just perfectly sweet, it's fresh and satisfying. But since my plans far surpassed a simple and modest bundt cake, I had to carry on. The creamy white chocolate ganache poured on top sets the tone for something more luxurious and dessert-like, and the chocolate-covered strawberries just upped the deliciousness factor. Valentine's Day or not, I say it's time for cake.
Who's with me?
Recipe Card
Strawberry Bundt Cake with White Chocolate Ganache
This light, tender, and moist bundt cake has a vibrant taste of strawberries, matched with the perfect amount of sweetness. It's excellent alone, but even more special garnished with a creamy white chocolate glaze and chocolate-covered strawberries. With its beautiful presentation, it's sure to make Valentine's Day - or any other occasion - memorable!
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: one (approx. 9 inch) bundt cake 1x
Ingredients
Strawberry Bundt Cake
- 15 ounces chopped strawberries (3 cups)*
- 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
- 12 ¾ ounces all-purpose flour (3 cups, spoon and sweep)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 5 ounces unsalted butter (10 tablespoons), softened
- 5 ⅝ ounces brown sugar (¾ cup, packed)
- 5 ¼ ounces vanilla sugar or granulated sugar (¾ cup)
- 2 extra-large eggs plus 1 yolk
- 4 ¼ ounces plain yogurt (½ cup)**
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon red food coloring
Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
White Chocolate Ganache
- 5 ½ ounces white chocolate chips (1 cup), or chopped white chocolate***
- 2 ⅛ ounces heavy cream (¼ cup)
Instructions
Strawberry Bundt Cake:
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Place the chopped strawberries in an 11" x 7" baking dish and sprinkle the 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar on top. Roast in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, and then set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and grease a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray, making sure to coat all of the grooves of the pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, vanilla sugar, and brown sugar until the mixture is even in color and texture and the color has lightened a bit. One at a time, add the eggs and egg yolk, beating between each addition until well-combined. Wipe down the mixing bowl as needed.
- In a blender, puree the cooled strawberries with the yogurt until smooth. Add to the batter in the stand mixer along with the vanilla extract and red food coloring. Beat in on low speed until the batter is even in color and everything is well-combined, wiping down the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet and fold in with a spatula until just combined; do not overmix!
- Pour the batter into the greased bundt pan, spreading it out to fill every crevice of the pan and smoothing out the top. Wrap the pan firmly on the counter a few times to eliminate any trapped air bubbles. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-53 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then, rap the pan on the counter a few times to loosen the cake, place the cooling rack upside-down over the pan, and turn the cake out onto the rack. Cover the top and sides with plastic wrap, and let the cake cool on the rack until it is no longer warm to the touch. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap until ready to decorate.****
- Make the chocolate-covered strawberries (recipe here) and plan how you will place them on the cake before making the ganache glaze. The recipe makes more strawberries than you will need for the cake, but this is intentional; you will likely have some that turn out better than others. Extras can always be used for additional garnish when serving.
White Chocolate Ganache
- Place the white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.
- In a separate, microwave-safe container, microwave the heavy cream for 20-30 seconds, just until it starts to boil. Pour the cream over the white chocolate, making sure that most of the white chocolate is covered. Let sit for 5 minutes. Then, stir in a gentle, circular motion until the white chocolate has melted completely and the mixture is smooth. If needed, microwave for another 10 seconds at a time, stirring gently between intervals, until smooth. If a few small bits of chocolate aren't melting or you happen to get air bubbles in the ganache, strain it through a sieve before continuing. The ganache should be very thick, so that it falls in a slow stream from the bowl. If needed, chill it in the fridge briefly, about 5-10 minutes, and then stir again until smooth.*****
Assembly:
- Drizzle the ganache over the bundt cake, pouring over the top and letting it pool slowly down the sides. Arrange the strawberries on top, and let the ganache set.
- Serve cake the day it is assembled. Any leftovers should be covered tightly in plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator. Be sure to put plastic wrap over cut edges as well to keep the cake moist.
- Enjoy!
Notes
*For best results, I would suggest using strawberries that are not overly ripe (soft or mushy) in this recipe.
**I used lowfat yogurt; feel free to use regular or nonfat instead.
***Use a good-quality white chocolate for this recipe. I've found that white chocolate is really temperamental to melt, and the higher quality your chocolate is, the more likely it is that it will melt smoothly. If you can buy white chocolate made specifically for melting, that's probably even better!
**** This cake can be made the day before and decorated the day you plan to serve it. Keep the cake wrapped tightly in plastic wrap at room temperature until decorated.
*****If you aren't sure whether your ganache is at the perfect consistency for drizzling on the cake, just test it by pouring a little bit on and seeing how it settles. If you chill the ganache and end up getting it a little too thick, microwave it for 5-10 seconds, just until it's reached the right consistency.
Let's talk chocolate! Are you as much of a chocolate hoarder as I am? Do you keep a secret stash? What's your favorite kind of chocolate?
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St.
For me, the most amazing part of this recipe is the way the whole kitchen smells while the strawberries are roasting... wow! The experience was so wonderful, I actually chopped and roasted a second batch to use as topping, along with confectioner's icing. (I know my skill limits and did not attempt the ganache.) I also deviated by using regular cane sugar, large rather than extra large eggs, and nonfat Greek yogurt... and was still delighted by the resulting moist and flavorful cake, the best strawberry cake any of us had ever tasted. And no pulp straining or slow stovetop gelling process required! I left out the artificial red dye and thought the natural ruddy tan color was still quite attractive.
alexandra
I'm so glad you liked it! Typically granulated sugar is cane sugar... unless you mean you used a coarser cane sugar? Large vs XL eggs usually won't make a major difference in most recipes and greek/regular yogurt is pretty interchangeable as well. Happy to hear it turned out well!
Ingrid
I heat the cream in a heavy small pot and then add the white chocolate until melted.
lisa g.
This looks just delicious! Im curious though. Ive watched every episode of Cupcake Wars on Food Network and world renowened pastry chef Florian Bellaguer(?spell check), always tells the bakers that strawberries do not bake and that they release alot of water causing a soggy cupcake; thus making a cupcake that dont work for him. So, on that note I can only see your end result here in pics. Im curious about the batter's texture and how the roasted strawberries turned out after baking? Did the moisture get released during baking? Can I use sour cream in place of yogurt? Do you use greek yogurt? Is the cake fluffy or heavy after beibg baked? Lots of Q's but I love to bake. I think strawberry preserves would be delish in place of chocolate if you wanted! Thank you!
alexandra
Hi Lisa! Sorry to be getting back to you so late; the last few weeks have been crazy!. Anyhow, to answer your questions: I haven't made this cake in a while so I can't really remark on the texture of the batter much, but you end up with a light, moist cake that isn't too soggy for two reasons. The first is that roasting the strawberries pulls out some of their liquid and cooks it down to prevent it from adding too much moisture to the cake. The second is that by blending up the strawberries and using them as part of the liquid component of the recipe, we're accounting for how much moisture they'll add and cutting back on other moisture-inducing ingredients (like yogurt). You can definitley use sour cream as well; in this recipe I used regular yogurt (not greek), but greek is fine too. Hope that answers all of your questions, and I totally agree about the preserves!
Meganne
I have been obsessed with strawberry cake since a child, do you think the strawberry icing recipe from your "double chocolate cupcakes w strawberry cream cheese frosting" would be too much for a die hard strawberry cake lover? Or do you truly think the white chocolate frosting makes it stand out vs. other from scratch strawberry cake recipes?THANKS!
alexandra
I love the white chocolate glaze with this cake BUT I imagine the strawberry frosting would be an amazing match as well, especially if you're a strawberry lover. The only catch is that you can't pour the frosting over a bundt cake like you can with a glaze. You could try making this in a different pan, but I haven't tested it myself.
Liz
Hi
Does the white ganache set up firm? I need a to put a sugar paper/ potato starch paper design on a cake and thought white would show off the colors better than the rolled buttercream fondant I was originally planning on doing. The cake will be kept COLD as there is going to be ice cream in the middle.
alexandra
To be honest, I don't remember perfectly since I made this cake a while ago, but based on the ratio of white chocolate to heavy cream, I'd say that it should definitley set up firm.
Victoria
I really want to make this cake, except I absolutely hate white chocolate ! I'm thinking maybe a cream cheese or lemon glaze/drizzle ? I don't know what the cake itself tastes like, but do you think either of these would work ? Thanks :)
alexandra
I think cream cheese would work perfectly! In fact, I have a cream cheese glaze I made for a carrot bundt cake here. That (minus the cinnamon used) should be exactly what you need. :)
Angelina
This cake looks amazing. Like seriously. Could I make this into eight inch round cake pans? If so, what do I need to change about the recipe? Thanks so much! xo
alexandra
I think it should work fine with two 8-inch cake pans, but I haven't tested it myself, so I just want you to know that I can't guarantee it. The baking time should be shorter too; I would probably start checking after 30 minutes. Let me know if you give it a try. I'd love to hear how it goes!
Ivy
I used your wonderful cake recipe with a rose shaped bundt pan and then made a thinner white chocolate glaze in order to show off the shape of the cake. The glaze I used combined melted white chocolate with a little crisco. This variation of your cake was a total hit a BBQ party that I went last week end. My daughter liked the cake so much she requested a version of it for her birthday and I plan on making your beautiful bundt cake, dipped strawberries and all.
alexandra
That's awesome! Thank you so much for letting me know! I'm so happy the cake was such a big hit and I'm sure you'll love the version with the chocolate-covered strawberries too. :)
Stacey
Hi there,
I want to make this cake for a friend's birthday this weekend - do you think the cake batter could be adapted to other size cake pans (not bundt)? I'm asking as her child wants a "Barbie Cake" and I'd need to bake one bundt like you have here, but then another in a pyrex bowel, and yet another in a tiny, 5 inch cake pan. Think it would work?
thank you!
Stacey
alexandra
I'm sure you can bake some of the cake batter in the 5" pan, but I've never tried baking cake in a pyrex bowl, so I can't really comment on that part. If you've tried it with other cakes and it works consistently, I would say give it a try. You could always do a test run and just keep the extra cake for yourself. It's awesome even if you don't add any ganache/frosting.
Hope it works well! I'd love to hear back about how it turns out.
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com
What a gorgeous cake! Perfect for Valentine's day! Love how it looks pink once you slice it! I am pinning it.
alexandra
Thanks so much for the support! And I just had to add some pink color to the cake, it wouldn't haven't been as much fun without. ;)
Belinda @themoonblushbaker
Wow this is such a pretty cake! I love the bundt cake colour. I share your problem with having huge amounts of chocolate in the house. I remember when i first learnt how to temper chocolate i think i went through 2 kgs of chocolate to get it right.
I would love to try this with the strawberries, have you tried ones with popping candy before? They are the bomb and would make your cake even more stunning.
Wonderful recipe and photos
alexandra
Thank you so much! I still need to learn how to temper chocolate myself... I'm working on it but decided to wait until I actually have use for the chocolate once tempered. :D Popping strawberries?! I've never heard of that, but I guess I'll have to look into it!
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious
What a gorgeous cake! It's almost too pretty to eat!
alexandra
Haha almost, but not quite! ;) Thanks!
Ashley
I love love love strawberry cake - this sounds delicious! And so pretty - those chocolate covered strawberries are gorgeous on top : )
alexandra
Normally I'm all about the chocolate, and could care less about any other cake, but I seriously LOVED this cake. Without glaze, without anything at all, it's just incredibly good.
Thanks Ashley!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
What a pretty bundt, I love the strawberry toppers!
Izy
White chocolate ganache can be a total pain to make, I think it actually gains enjoyment from separating into a weird greasy layer floating on top of a curdled mess. I had to make a HECK tonne of it once, and after that, it put me off white chocolate for a loooong time; however I was given literally 1kg of white chocolate for Christmas, and like you, have learned (by putting it into like everything I make) that I do actually like it in some contexts. I haven't thought of pairing it with strawberries before, but now that you mention it, it does make so much sense! Strawberries and cream, duuuh. Anyways, the cake looks great, especially that dripping ganache!
alexandra
Omg thank goodness I'm not the only one with these huge white chocolate problems. I've literally seen white chocolate turn into something resembling cauliflower - not pretty. And every time I do something that involves melting white chocolate, I ask myself why I didn't learn from last time and why I'm putting myself through such torture AGAIN.
And thanks so much!