Just Because Chocolate Cake
I’m sure I don’t need to sell you on this cake. Who doesn’t love a chocolate cake? What may stop you is the perception that a thickly frosted chocolate cake should be reserved for a special occasion. It’s too fiddly for a regular old Saturday afternoon. Well, in my opinion we MAKE occasions special when we treat them with special care. We can make a day celebratory just by doing something a bit over the top. We recently went for a long family bike ride and my impressive 8 year old rode 13 miles on his own bike. I promised to make him a cake since he worked so hard to keep up. With a huge smile he asked if he could have a chocolate cake with frosting. I wanted to say no and offer to make something a little simpler (ie. without frosting) but decided to go for it. That’s when this recipe was born. It takes no time to whip together and I replaced the cream cheese and sour cream in my “fancy” chocolate cake recipe with greek yogurt because that’s what I always have in the fridge! Now we can whip up an extraordinary cake on a beautifully ordinary day and celebrate just being together!
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cups cane sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups greek yogurt
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
Tangy Chocolate Frosting:
1 stick of butter, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
a pinch of salt
6 ounces chocolate chips (we like a darker chocolate, but you can use your favorite!)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. You could also do 3 round cake pans or halve the recipe and bake in an 8x8 dish. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugars, vanilla, and eggs until frothy. Add the milk and yogurt to the wet mixture and whisk again. Add the butter last and whisk until shiny and smooth. Add the wet mixture to the dry and pour into baking pan. Pop it in the oven for about 30-35 minutes. Check it at the 30 minute mark because you don’t want to overcook it! You want the middle to just be set. Let it cool well before frosting, or you could just eat it warm with a big pile of whipped cream!
Rig up a simple double boiler by putting a heat proof bowl over a slightly smaller pot with a few inches of water in it. It will look like this. Put it over medium heat. Add the chocolate to the bowl and let it melt slowly. Be careful of steam escaping up the sides when stirring. Once it’s melted remove the bowl from the pot and set it aside to cool slightly. While that cools, use a stand or hand mixer to whisk the butter, powdered sugar and salt together until light and fluffy. You’ll need to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl a couple of times. Once the chocolate is cooled a bit, go back to it and add the greek yogurt and mix together. It will thicken quickly and turn into a paste. That’s ok! Add the chocolate-yogurt mixture to the butter-sugar mixture a bit at a time and continue whipping it together until it's fluffy and smooth. Frost your cake and enjoy! You’ll want to refrigerate it if you have leftovers. The frosting will firm up in the fridge and it’s still delicious but if you want it soft again you can leave it at room temp for a bit before eating. Enjoy!
