Chocolate Espresso Cake (whole wheat) – Recipe

The Chocolate Espresso Cake story/recipe – Sometime last February, my son put in his request for his birthday cake (his birthday is in October). You see, he had fallen in love with coffee and wanted to “give me plenty of time to come up with something amazing”. After some research and a few kitchen experiments, this is what I came up with. My new favorite cake – chocolate espresso cake with a coffee glaze and an espresso chocolate butter-cream frosting. I think you get a cup’s worth of caffeine just saying the name. Oh, and it’s whole wheat! We celebrated his birthday last night and that cake will not stop calling me from the refrigerator. Say this next part in a high pitched, slow and dreamy voice – Alicia, come and eat me, I’m so yummy. And I’ve said back to it all day in a firm voice – be quite cake. Guess what though, at 6 ‘o clock tonight, while dinner was in the oven, the cake won and it was delicious! So, here’s the recipe. I hope you love it as much as we did!

For the Cake

4 ounces dark chocolate (I use Scharfenberger Chocolate – available in the “foodie shop” on my site!)
2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup Splenda (or another 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar)
2 sticks butter ( I use Plugra)
5 eggs
2 Tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla (I like Bourbon Pure Vanilla Paste – available in the “foodie shop” on my site!)
1 cup plain yogurt

For the Glaze (make this when the cake is done baking and cooling)

1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder
2 Tabelspoons water

Combine all of the ingredients, stir and then microwave for 30 seconds. Remove the glaze from the microwave. Stir it until the sugar dissolves.

Instructions for the Cake

Prepare two 8″ round cake pans with butter or non-stick spray and line the bottoms with wax paper

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees

1. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stir with a fork or whisk to combine.
2. Melt the chocolate (you can do this in the microwave, heat 30 seconds then stir and then heat it at 15 second intervals until it’s almost melted then stir).
3. Combine with a mixer the butter, brown sugar, splenda, eggs, espresso powder, and vanilla in a large bowl for 3 minutes (it will look a little weird with tiny butter speckles).
4. Add the melted chocolate in while mixing and then mix for one more minute.
5. Add in flour mixture and yogurt 1/3 at a time alternating them and mixing them well in between each addition. Make sure that you are also taking the time to scrape your bowl with a rubber spatula in between additions.
6. Bake your cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This wil take about 30 minutes.
7. Cool the cakes on racks for 10 minutes. Then run a knife around edges (to help loosen it) and remove it from the pans. Allow the cakes to cool.
8. Use a pastry brush to brush the glaze onto the first cake layer.
9. Frost the bottom layer and add the top layer.
10. Glaze the top layer and frost the rest of your cake.
For the Butter-cream
4 ounces dark chocolate – melted (I use Scharfenberger Chocolate – available in the “foodie shop” on my site!)
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
3 Tablespoons cream
2 sticks butter – room temperature (I use Plugra)
1 teaspoon vanilla (I like Bourbon Pure Vanilla Paste – available in the “foodie shop” on my site!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions for the Butter-Cream

1. Dissolve the espresso powder into the cream.
2. Cream the butter, vanilla and salt until combined and a little fluffy- about 3 minutes.
3. While you are still mixing, add in the melted chocolate.
4. Add the powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
5. Beat in the espresso/cream mixture until you reach the desired consistency.