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Today is a special day for me. For us. It's been 11 years since we got married.
Every year as our anniversary approaches, I wonder what special thing I can do to remind to my husband and myself about our united lives. I do have to admit that my husband is way more creative than I am. It's always been that way. Last year for our big 10-year wedding anniversary he surprised me big time! He planned a whole ceremony behind my back. But the biggest surprise wasn't the ceremony to renew our vows, the dinner at the restaurant, or all our friends he invited. It was that fact he flew my mom and sister all the way from Ukraine. I have no idea how he accomplished it all without me even getting a hint of what was happening. It was such a wonderful surprise! I don't know if I could have kept such a big secret.
An 11-year wedding anniversary usually doesn't get as much attention as a 10-year anniversary, so this year is going to be a much smaller celebration. Especially since we've got some exciting new projects going on, like building a big addition to our house. We're probably not going to do much besides go out for the evening, but I still wanted to do something nice for my David.
As I've mentioned earlier, my husband is a real chocoholic. And no matter how hard I try to broaden his tastes, when it comes to what he wants for dessert, his answer will be always the same: chocolate cake please.
I get bored making the same recipe over and over again, so over the years I've developed quite a few chocolate cake recipes. You can't have too many chocolate cake options, right? I already published Thomas's favorite chocolate cake, and I'm excited to share more of them with you someday. Thomas's favorite chocolate cake is great if you like rich chocolate cake, but today I wanted to make something lighter.
This is one of my personal favorite recipes for chocolate cake. Olive oil chocolate cake with Greek yogurt frosting. Sounds good, doesn't it?
You can whip this cake up in no time. You just need a mixing bowl, a spoon, and a few ingredients that are staples in most pantries (you'll also need a saucepan and whisk for the frosting).
This olive oil cake with Greek yogurt frosting has everything: the fruitiness and richness from the olive oil provides a light texture, and the Greek yogurt helps balance the sweetness of the frosting while giving a boost with good bacteria like Lactobacillus. The Celtic salt also adds a lot of minerals. Chocolate always tastes better with salt, so make sure you don't skip it!
The other good new about the cake itself is that's a vegan cake, but you'd never be able to guess. It's moist, light, and fluffy, and it can stay fresh in the fridge for up to a week without losing its flavor.
What kind of chocolate powder should be used for this delightful chocolate cake with Greek yogurt frosting?
As much as I like using Dutch cocoa powder, I highly recommend using natural unsweetened cocoa powder in this recipe. Because I use only baking soda and not baking power, the acid is absolutely needed to create carbonic acid and sodium acetate. This chemical reaction makes bubbles so the batter will rise. When you bake the cake, the heat activates the baking soda reaction again, so the cake rises while it bakes. While the vinegar does help with this reaction, it doesn't last on its own for too long. The natural unsweetened cocoa powder has acid itself, so it helps the reaction go on for longer. This is because of how natural unsweetened cocoa powder is made.
Cocoa powder comes from cocoa beans that have been fermented, dried, and ground into a powder. It's a long and complicated process. Based on manufacturing, the resulting acid level (which provides bitterness) can vary. On the other hand, Dutch cocoa beans have been washed in an alkaline solution of potassium carbonate, and the acid has been removed. That's why Dutch cocoa powder is neutral.
What makes the Greek yogurt frosting so special?
The frosting is light, creamy, not overly sweet, and absolutely delicious! It's also very stable, which means it's not going to melt as soon as you pull it out of the fridge. It's more stable than buttercream while being way lighter. This frosting can be made ahead of time and still have the texture of beautiful, silky whipped cream. Another bonus with this frosting is that Greek yogurt (or really any yogurt) has good live bacteria. As you probably know by know, I love fermented food, and I try to incorporate it in our diet every day.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
Author: Inna of innichkachef.com
Ingredients for Olive Oil Chocolate Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups raw cane sugar
1 teaspoon Celtic salt or pink salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup olive oil
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water
Greek Yogurt Frosting Ingredients
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar
5 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup Greek yogurt
Chocolate Ganache Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon honey
Recipe Note
If you'd like to have a completely vegan cake, feel free to use coconut cream frosting.
Directions for olive oil chocolate cake with Greek yogurt frosting
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Brush two 9-inch cake pans with olive oil and flour.
3. In a mixing bowl, add flour (sifted), sugar, cocoa powder (sifted), salt. Don't add the baking soda yet. Whisk together.
4. Add the olive oil and water. Mix. The dough will be clumpy, but don't worry about it.
5. In small mixers (see video clip below), combine the baking soda and vinegar. Then add to the batter and mix everything together.
6. Fill the prepared pans with equal amounts of batter and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to wire racks and letting them cool completely before you frost them.
7. Make the frosting while the cake is baking. Place a saucepan on low heat and add 1 cup of cream, vanilla extract, cornstarch, and ½ cup powdered sugar. Stir together and cook until it reaches the consistency of sour cream. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
8. Add the rest of the cream and sugar to the mixing bowl of your electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk the cream and sugar together for 5 minutes or until the cream is thick but not a whipped cream consistency.
9. Continue whipping the cream on low speed while you add the cooled cream and cornstarch mixture one spoon at a time. Once it's all incorporated, add the yogurt. Then the frosting is ready!
10. Frost the completely cooled cakes with your Greek yogurt frosting.
11. Place in the fridge for about an hour to seal the frosting.
12. Meanwhile, you can make the chocolate ganache. Place a pot with a little bit of water on medium heat and place a metal or glass mixing bowl on top of it. Add the cream, chocolate chips, and honey all at once.
13. Heat and stir until you're happy with the consistency of the chocolate ganache.
14. Pour the chocolate ganache over the chilled cake.
15. For the best result, it's easier to cut if you let the cake chill in the fridge again for an hour.
Enjoy!
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