Ooey-Gooey Mocha Cake with Swirl Frosting

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Ooey-Gooey Mocha Cake with Swirl Frosting
Serves 10-12

Note: You’ll need a 9-inch springform pan

Ingredients for the cake:
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder – stock
1¼ cup strong hot coffee – $1.00
2 cups flour – stock
1 teaspoon baking soda – stock
1 teaspoon salt – stock
½ cup of buttermilk (you can also whisk together ½ cup of milk + ½ Tablespoon of white vinegar and make your own) – stock
1 teaspoon vanilla – stock
1½ sticks of unsalted butter, softened – stock
2 cups sugar – stock
2 eggs – stock

Ingredients for vanilla frosting:
1½ cups confectioner’s sugar – stock
½-teaspoon vanilla extract – stock
2 Tablespoons plain yogurt – $0.89
3 Tablespoons melted butter – stock

Ingredients for chocolate swirl frosting:
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder – stock
1 Tablespoon plain yogurt – calculated above
¼-cup confectioner’s sugar – stock
Grand total assuming well-stocked kitchen: $1.89
Cost per slice: $0.16

Directions for the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pam or lightly butter your 9-inch springform, dust with a bit of flour, shaking off excess

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the hot coffee and the cocoa powder. Add the buttermilk and vanilla, whisking well to combine. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

4. Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Using the “stir” setting on your mixer, add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa-coffee mixture. Stir until just combined. (Like my mom, I finish this part by hand, so that the cake is moist and not over beaten.)

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out relatively clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove spring form sides and continue to cool completely before icing.

To make the frosting:
1. For the vanilla frosting: in the bowl of your clean electric mixer, combine the confectioner’s sugar, yogurt and vanilla. Then beat in the melted butter until creamy. Scrape into a bowl and set aside.

2. For the cocoa swirl: in the bowl of your electric mixer (don’t worry about cleaning it between making the vanilla frosting and chocolate swirl), beat the yogurt, cocoa and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Set aside.

3. Once the cake is totally cool (I was in a rush and made the mistake of frosting WAY too soon, which is why you can see a little pooling around the base of my cake), frost just the top of the cake with the vanilla icing, allow some of it to drip down the sides. Next, dot on little spoonfuls of the chocolate swirl and create patterns of your choosing using a toothpick. Enjoy!