recipe: chocolate fudge cake

i'm not normally one for posting recipes, but i thought it would be fun to share the amazing chocolate cake i ended up making for my birthday this year. (yes, i usually make my own cake, because i do it better than the other four in my family. and yes, i had two cakes, the latter being from portillo's, because its awesome and one cake is just not enough).

my mom has been making this recipe for as long as i can remember, and i've tweaked it a bit (by adding things like whole wheat flour to make it more "healthy." as if).

// chocolate fudge birthday cake //

ingredients:

(quick note, i doubled this recipe to make the cake in the pictures above)

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg

(i also added 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, because i wasn't going to use my mom's fudge topping-- keep reading for that).

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. grease, line with wax paper, grease again and flour (1) 9" cake pan

(to create the cake pictured i doubled the recipe and used (2) 6" and (2) 4" pans. i also used a little trick from martha stewart: use cocoa powder instead of flour on the pans - it will blend in with the color of the cake).

3. beat all ingredients in large bowl on low speed until combined.

4. pour into pan, and bake 30 or so minutes.

(try really hard not to overbake it, because it will get dry).

5. cool cake in pan 10 minutes, then invert on rack. cool completely before frosting.

because i was dead set on a mint green cake this year, i used a basic buttercream frosting dyed with americolor's soft gel paste food color in avocado. ($1.99 at hobby lobby and it was the perfect color- no mixing!)

however. the way my mom always makes this cake, and it's admittedly the best way, is with a gooey, dripping fudge topping laced with macadamia nuts. it's a must-try.

// chocolate macadamia topping //

ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
7 ounce jar whole macadamia nuts

directions:

1. heat heavy cream, sugar, butter, corn syrup and chocolate in saucepan over medium-high heat until boiling, stirring constantly.

2. reduce heat to medium, cook and stir 5 more minutes.

3. remove from heat, stir in vanilla.

4. cool about 10 minutes, stir in macadamia nuts.

5. pour over your fully cooled cake.

it will run down the sides, pool around the edges, firm up eventually, and thoroughly delight your tastebuds.

{this picture is from the last time my mom & i made this cake together}

the rest of the gorgeous pictures above were taken by my wonderful friend, ellen swalley of red sweater photography. and yes, we totally ate it immediately after the shoot. which is why i ended up needing a second cake from portillos.

 {travis hickox took this picture of the portillos cake}

{and ellen caught me eating. seriously, we were done shooting and i went behind the counter to eat cake. so much for styling a profile picture. chocolate cake is good to you like that.}

now that you have a serious craving for chocolate and you're looking for a pen to write this recipe out, go grab these delicious (and free!) printable recipe cards from lauren at a fabulous fete. cuz yummy cake needs yummy paper. ok, the end.