Chocolate Cherry Cake Perfect for Valentine’s Day

Learn how to make this bright and bold chocolate cherry cake for your special someone on Valentine’s Day. 

If we learned anything this last year, we can still have special moments even when we are just at home and cake is the best accompaniment. This chocolate cherry cake will make any night, especially Valentine’s Day, extra delicious. 

Cherries and chocolate will always be a favorite flavor combination that’ll never go out of style. 

Chocolate Cherry Cake is made with soft dark chocolate cake layers filled with black cherry filling, cherry buttercream, and chocolate-covered cherries. 

The chocolate cake is made with dark cocoa powder and freshly brewed coffee. The coffee enhances the chocolate flavor giving it a well-rounded taste not too sweet or bitter. The cake layers are perfectly moist and have the best texture that makes it stable but light, making it a definite crowd-pleaser. 

Here you’ll learn how to make a lip-smacking black cherry filling made with black cherries, sugar, and lemon juice. The best part about these black cherries recipes is that you can use frozen cherries so you can make this all year round. I prefer to use frozen black cherries over cherries in a can with syrup as it’s way more sugar than we need, and the fresh cherries have a great flavor that’s brought out with the lemon juice. 

A quick tip: you can use premade cherry jam or preserves to fill or for the cherry buttercream to make the process move more quickly. 

The cake is finished with chocolate-covered cherries to make it the perfect sweet treat! 

Tips for Success: 

• Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.
• A single batch of this cake recipe makes three 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three 8-inch cake layers.
• In this cake recipe, you need 1 cup buttermilk; if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use 1 cup whole milk mixed with 1 TBSP lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own. 
• This dark chocolate cake recipe needs 1 cup of brewed coffee, but you can also substitute 1 cup hot water mixed with 1 TBSP of espresso powder. This ingredient elevates the chocolate cake and gives the cake a rich and delicious flavor. 
• You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze for up to one month. 
• If you’d like to cut down the prep time, you can use cherry jam for both the black cherry filling and cherry gel for the buttercream. 
• The black cherry gel needs lemon juice, and the cherry gel needs lemon zest but makes sure you zest the lemon before you juice it as it’ll be more comfortable. 
• You can also make the black cherry filling and buttercream in advance and keep up to one week before using it to fill the cake. 
• Serve cake at room temperature. 

What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake: 

• 5-quart, Stand Mixer with mixing bowl, paddle & whisk attachments
• 3, 6-inch cake pans or 2, 8-inch cake pans
• Offset spatula 
• 8-inch or 10-inch white cake board 
• Serrated knife or cake leveler 
• Turntable 
• Cake scraper or bench scraper
• Whisk or sifter
• Rubber Spatula
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray and Parchment Paper
• Ice Cream Scooper with Trigger Release (for dividing cake batter evenly)
• Piping Bags (I use reusable silicone bags)
• Ateco #828 Open Star Tip
• Baking Sheet Tray
• Mixing bowls (small & medium)
• Measuring cups & spoons
• Dark coating chocolate
• Cake Stand, optional

Here’s how to make this Chocolate Cherry Cake that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day! 

Let’s Get Baking! 

Dark Chocolate Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
2. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, stir together the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 
3. Add the eggs and the vegetable oil on low until well incorporated.
4. Pour in the buttermilk and add brewed coffee. Mix on medium for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
5. Evenly distribute the cake batter among the three cake pans and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
6. Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely — wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes. 

Black Cherry Filling 

1. In a medium saucepan, mix the black cherries, sugar, and lemon juice. Continue mixing with a rubber spatula over low-medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the berries begin to boil.
2. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water. Add cornstarch mixture to the boiling berries and continue to stir with a rubber spatula. 
3. Continue cooking the mixture for 2-3 minutes until it is thickened and coats the back of the spatula. 
4. Pour the cherry filling into a small bowl to cool. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent skin from forming. Set aside to fully cool. 

Cherry Gel 

1. In a small saucepan, add the pureed cherries. Place pot over medium heat for 5-10 minutes to bring to a boil and break down the cherries occasionally stir to prevent from burning on the bottom. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water. Mix with a spoon until the mixture is lump-free. Add the mixture to the boiling cherries, stirring constantly. 
3. Add lemon zest and lemon juice to the cherry mixture should be opaque and thick. Once thick, remove from the heat and place into the freezer to cool quickly. 

Cherry Buttercream 

1. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer to low and add the cold cherry gel (or cherry jam), salt, and vanilla. 
3. Next, gradually add powdered sugar (followed by the cream if needed). Mix on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
4. Before using, turn the mixer on low and mix for 2 minutes to push out any air bubbles, or use a rubber spatula to push out the air bubbles. (You may need to repeat this step when frosting the outside of the cake). 
5. Fill a piping bag ⅔ of the way that’s fitted with an open star tip.  

Chocolate Covered Cherries 

1. In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips in 30-second increments until fully melted. 
2. Next, make sure the cherries are dry, hold the fruit carefully by the stem and dip the cherry ¾ of the way into the chocolate. Then gently scrape excess chocolate off the bottom of the cherry on the side of the bowl. 
3. Place the dipped cherries onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Set aside. Continue to dip 10-12 cherries enough to decorate the top of the cake. Place the tray into the refrigerator or freezer to set the chocolate. 

Putting It All Together

1. Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the cakes’ dome to make the layers flat and even. 
2. Add a small amount of buttercream onto the center of the cake board.
3. Layer a chilled cake, cut side up onto the cake board. Place a thin layer of buttercream on top of the cake, then pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge. Add 1/3 cup of black cherry filling inside the circle of buttercream. 
4. Place another cake layer cut side up over the top. Repeat the process for another layer—Crumb coat and freeze for 30 minutes. 
5. Then add a thicker layer of buttercream and smooth the sides out using an offset spatula and cake scraper. 
6. Starting from the bottom of the cake, hold the offset spatula perpendicular to the board and slowly move the spatula up the sides of the cake as you are spinning the turntable. Continue to make rustic texture lines up the sides of the cake and smooth the top of the cake. 
7. Pour melted dark coating chocolate over the top of the cake and use the offset spatula to smooth. 
8. Pipe small swirls on top of the cake and place a chocolate-covered cherry on top of the swirl to finish the cake. 

You May Also Enjoy: 

• Common Baking Mistakes & How to Avoid Them (free training)
• Cake Planning Checklist (freebie)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)
• Cake Decorating for Beginners (online course)   

I’m so excited to see your Chocolate Cherry Cake creations. Please feel free to email me here at xokatierosario@gmail.com with any questions you may have; I’ll be happy to help! 

Happy Decorating! 

P.S. Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out cake Decorating for Beginners, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s essential to learn from the ground up to build a foundation so that you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/online-cake-course. I will see you there! 

Watch The How-to Video Below: 

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