Deep Dark Chocolate Cake with (Slightly) Salted Chocolate Frosting & my 2nd Blogiversary

It’s hard to believe that it has been two years since I started this blog. It’s even more difficult to look back at the early days with posts like this, or like this. The photos left a lot to be desired to say the least. But I started to learn- mostly by reading lots of other blogs- a bit about the all important lighting when taking photos, amongst other things. But the most important thing that I have learnt is that it all comes down to the food. If the food tastes amazing and looks good, I’ve completed what I set out to do in the first place.

If you browse through my posts, you won’t see lots of props or “styling” if you will. My focus is, and always will be the food. That’s why when I started to think about what kind of cake I wanted to bake for this celebration of the last two years of blood, sweat and tears- I knew I wanted something decadent, rich, utterly irresistible, but most importantly: delicious.

This cake is all of those things and more. At it’s core are two layers of a deep, dark, incredibly moist chocolate cake that appeals to adults just as much as the kiddos. Using some strong, hot coffee in the cake batter is a trick I’ve always used for my brownies and this cake is almost chewy and gooey like the best brownies are. The thick, fluffy frosting has a tangy twist thanks to the cream cheese and greek yogurt that I’ve used instead of a pure butter frosting. Then, finally you get a tiny hit of salt- which I absolutely adore when eating dark chocolate. I could’ve added another teaspoon of salt to make it even more pronounced, but I know I wanted to decorate with some flakes of sea salt, which satisfied that salty-sweet kick I love. The frosting is a dream to ice a cake with and turns almost truffle-like when set. Be warned, I had a smidge of frosting left after I decorated the cake- you’re a better person than I if you can resist! It almost tastes better straight off the spatula!

Try out this cake for your next birthday party- I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake with Salted Chocolate Frosting

Yield: One double-layer, 9 inch cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup very hot strong coffee (or 1 cup boiling water)

For the frosting:

2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup greek yogurt

Instructions

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
In a large mixer bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, soda, powder & salt until combined.
Add in the eggs, milk, oil & vanilla and mix well, on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
Stir in the hot coffee until the batter is smooth and thin. Pour evenly into the two pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in the pans for 5-10 minutes and then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.

For the frosting:

Sift together sugar, cocoa, and salt.
Beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Reduce speed to medium-low; gradually add sugar-cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Pour in chocolate in a slow, steady stream. Add greek yogurt and beat until combined.

http://www.flickofthewhisk.com/2014/01/deep-dark-chocolate-cake-salted-chocolate-frosting/