Greek Yogurt Chocolate Cake

This Greek Yogurt Chocolate Cake is healthier than your average chocolate cake made with whole grain flour, greek yogurt and topped with a mocha fudge frosting! You must make this!

this recipe

CAKE. Let’s talk about it.

Anyone else go for cookies over cake? I know, here I am with a cake recipe today and I am telling you how I prefer cookies… Just hear me out.

I like cake… but it has to be the right kind of cake. I don’t really want your average store bakery cake, or a box mix cake… or even your typical wedding cake. If offered cake, in *most* circumstances I will say “No, thank you.”  Call me crazy, but all of those types of cakes tend to be dry and crumbly and that is just not for me. I like my cakes MOIST (sorry not sorry) and with a little density, you know what I am saying?

So if I haven’t lost you yet… then today’s chocolate cake is most certainly for you. It’s *almost* like a brownie-cake, if you will. Not as fudgy as a brownie, but definitely not light and fluffy like a traditional box cake.

I actually made this cake twice already and I will likely be making it a third time here soon, as my dad’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks and he is a chocolate fiend. The first time I made this chocolate cake was for Mother’s Day and I shared it with Drew’s mom and family. My mom and family got carrot cake because it is her favorite. I actually had to tell my family (as I was keeping this chocolate cake at my parents until we ventured over to Drew’s side later) “Don’t tell Dad there is chocolate cake and he can’t have any…” But this chocolate cake will definitely be made a third time and has my dad’s name written all over it!

Greek Yogurt Chocolate Cake with Mocha Fudge Frosting

What you need

• whole wheat pastry flour
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• espresso powder
• baking powder
• salt
• granulated sugar 
• avocado oil 
• plain Greek yogurt
• eggs
• vanilla extract
• brewed coffee
• 3oz dark chocolate, chopped or chips
• butter
• espresso powder
• Greek yogurt 
• powdered sugar

I love using greek yogurt in baking because you can replace some of the heavy oil and it helps keep the moisture. So you could say this chocolate cake is slightly healthier 😉

Another thing we’re doing is using brewed (cooled) coffee as the liquid. You can’t really taste the coffee in the cake, it just helps intensify the chocolate flavor.

Oh but the frosting… yes that is where the coffee DOES come into play. Because hello, “Mocha Fudge Frosting”. Duh.

We’re also using Greek yogurt in the frosting in place of cream. It sounds weird but just trust me! The frosting starts in a sauce pan by melting together the butter and chocolate chips, then you gently stir in the Greek yogurt and espresso powder. Then the texture comes together by adding in the powdered sugar, making it thick and fudge-like. And if you’re not a fan of coffee, you could just leave the espresso powder out 🙂 

 

After the cake has cooled completely (I put mine in the fridge to speed up the process) you can start frosting the cake! This cake can be made a day ahead and the flavor gets even better.