Ever just have one of those weeks? Yeah, me too. My brain has left for tropical lands, my mood is lost in the frozen tundra, and my optimism is totally MIA. What do you do when the whole world feels like it’s upside down? You bake a freakin’ cake. Who says chocolate doesn’t make things better? 😉
Directions
For the cake:
Ingredients
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups lowfat yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon espresso powder, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water
2 ounces good-quality dark chocolate
For the frosting:
1 (8-ounce) bar Neufchatel cheese (reduced fat cream cheese), softened
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon espresso powder dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water
1 teaspoon coffee liqueur or vanilla
1 small square chocolate
Arrange rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 13-inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.
Whisk together flours, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl, then sift ingredients through a fine mesh strainer.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter and oil. Add eggs and egg whites and whisk to incorporate. Fold in yogurt, vanilla, sugar and dissolved espresso powder. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 90 seconds or over a double boiler. Fold chocolate into batter.
Gradually add sifted dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated; do not overbeat. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until cake has risen nicely and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
While cake is cooling, make the frosting:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until soft and creamy. Spread frosting evenly over cake and cut into squares. Finely grate one small square of chocolate. Sprinkle the chocolate shavings over the cake.
This recipe is 100% credited to Ellie Krieger via the Food Network. Happy Wednesday everyone!
Oh, and I was just kidding about my optimism being lost. I fully believe today is going to be the best day ever. Hope yours is filled with AMAZING news. And CAKE!
XO
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!! XOXOXOXO
OMG. YOU MADE THIS?? Okay, I need directions to your house, real quick-like. Oh, and a little money for the air flights would be nice. Heehee. That’s just GORGEOUS! Yum.
It’s my dad’s birthday, and mocha cake is his fave! Only the cake in the pic above isn’t the one I made. I’ll have to tweet those pics later after I upload them 🙂 But thank you! And yes! Come on over and bring all our tweet hearts friends for #cakelove 🙂
Yummy yum yum! Love chocolate in all incarnations, looking forward to seeing the one you did.
Chocolate is a girls best friend 🙂 I’ll definitely post some pics on twitter…if I don’t devour it first 🙂 *learns self-control*