At the end of January, I posted this year’s plan for my annual Lenten sacrifice: cutting down on food waste. One of my goals in this challenge is to always find uses for leftover ingredients. I had an extra container of Greek yogurt after making orange poppy seed cake, so I decided to use it to make this no-measure chocolate cake from Food 52, in hopes that it would serve as a go-to method for using extra yogurt in the future.

“But this isn’t a post about cake,” I hear you say. “This is a post about frosting. What gives?”

You’re absolutely right. And the reason this isn’t a post about cake is because I managed to majorly screw up what was supposed to be an easy recipe. >.< Pro tip: ALWAYS read ALL the ingredients and instructions before starting a recipe, even if you’ve read them before and think you remember. In short, don’t be like me and just wing it.

First off, the recipe called for full fat yogurt, and mine was fat free. Mine was also two ounces less than what the recipe called for, so I added a couple ounces of sour cream to make up the difference and increase the fat content. The recipe also called for self-raising flour, so I made my own using some instructions I found online, though I couldn’t helping thinking that the suggested 3 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp salt sounded like a lot for one single-layer cake.

When I tasted the batter, it was just…off. Slightly bitter and oddly sharp. I became VERY worried about this cake, but I couldn’t throw it out since the whole point of the exercise was to avoid waste. Once baked, the flavor wasn’t as bad as the batter, but still very weird. It was also WAY too dense and moist on the inside, even though it was thoroughly baked.

This sad fail cake clearly required some buttercream TLC. And that’s where this chocolate mocha frosting comes in! I wanted something rich to mask the weird flavors in the cake, so I experimented with adding cocoa powder and instant coffee to my vanilla buttercream recipe. It was FANTASTIC. I’m definitely adding it to my list of go-to frostings. The Mister even liked it, and he normally won’t touch anything with coffee in it.

At the end of the day, I may have made the most depressing chocolate cake ever, but I came out with a delicious new frosting recipe. So I guess it evens out? Plus, I technically met my goal of using up extra ingredients, so yay for that! 🙂

 

Chocolate Mocha Frosting: An AWR Original Recipe

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 no-measure chocolate cake
• 2 tsp instant coffee granules
• 3 tbsp milk
• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, separated
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sifted cocoa powder

 

Makes enough frosting to cover a 9-inch cake

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. 1. 1. Add the instant coffee to the milk and stir until dissolved. Set aside.
      2. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat until combined.
      3. Add the vanilla and 1 tbsp of the milk mix to the bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining powdered sugar.
      4. Alternate beating in the remaining milk mix and cocoa powder until smooth.
      5. Pipe over your favorite chocolate cake and serve!