Okay, so this cake is honestly the BEST chocolate cake I have ever had. And that is saying quite a lot. One of the best parts about this dessert is that the cake itself is so easy; it’s just a “doctored-up” box cake mix with no oil in it. Yes, you read right, this cake is practically guilt-free! This cake recipe is adapted from The Frugal Girls.com and it is oh so moist and chocolatey too. But the real star of the show is this buttercream. The buttercream is adapted from Barefoot Contessa’s Chocolate Buttercream recipe which is to die for because it not only has cocoa powder in it, it has espresso powder for an even deeper and decadent chocolate flavor. Enough of my blabbering and let me give you this darn good recipe…..

For the cake:

• 1 box (15 oz) chocolate cake mix (preferably with pudding in the mix)
• 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I used regular Chobani)
• 1 cup hot water (you can use hottest tap water)
• 3 eggs

For the buttercream:

• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 sticks softened butter
• 1 large egg (room temp)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp. instant coffee powder (I used Medaglia D’Oro)

Directions for cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Mix cake mix, yogurt, water, and eggs together just until combined ***be careful not to pour the hot water in too fast with the eggs so that you don’t scramble them***
3. Spray two 9″ round cake pans or a 9×13″ pan with cooking spray
4. Pour in batter and bake for 25-30 min until your toothpick comes out clean and then let cakes cool

Directions for buttercream:

1. While cakes are cooling, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave or double broiler
2. In bowl with electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until it is fluffy and light yellow
3. Add egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating
4. Turn your mixer to low and gradually add in powdered sugar and mix until you get a smooth and cream texture
5. Dissolve espresso powder in 2 tsp. of very very hot tap water
6. On low speed, add in espresso mixture and melted chocolate and mix until well-blended
7. Spread immediately on the cooled cakes—–>***

***Emily’s tip: To spread the butter cream on the cakes, get one round of cake and slap on a few good dollops of buttercream and spread that out evenly on the first layer, then carefully stack your second layer of cake on top and then cover the cake with the rest of the deliciously decadent buttercream

—ADAPTED FROM “THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA”–