Chocolate Birthday Cake w/ Toasted Marshmallows
Happy Birthday to US! In honor of our birthday we baked ourselves a cake with a little help from Taste Agent, Chef + Cyclist Lentine Alexis. But this isn’t just any birthday cake -- it’s literally made #fromSkratch! With just a few ingredients (most of which you probably already have on hand), and some of our Chocolate Sport Recovery Mix (now available in single serving packs), you’ll have yourself your own birthday cake in a snap. Let the celebrating (and cake eating!) begin!
A couple of notes from Lentine: She suggests that you use a kitchen torch to toast the marshmallows in the middle of the cake (if you don’t have one, pick one up...they’re so much fun!) If you don’t have one, you can char the marshmallows under the broiler of your oven or a wand lighter.) Also, you’ll see that the recipe below suggests that you stop the mixer to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. This is really important so that your cake is properly mixed and you don’t end up with any dry patches or pockets of wet ingredients when you bake the cake! Lastly, Lentine also says it’s best to freeze the cake overnight if you have time to make it easier to cut and assemble. Be sure to allow the cake to sit at room temperature once assembled for a few hours (or overnight in the refrigerator) to let it thaw before you eat it!
Chocolate Birthday Cake w/ Toasted Marshmallows
For the chocolate yogurt creme:
12 tablespoons whole fat greek yogurt
6 tablespoons maple syrup
9 tablespoons Chocolate Sport Recovery Mix
For the chocolate cake:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
½ cup whole milk
1 scoop Chocolate Sport Recovery Mix
¼ cup sunflower, grapeseed or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons chocolate creme (ingredients above, recipe to follow)
1 ¼ cups cake flour (or all-purpose flour)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons fine grain sea salt
To assemble:
¼ cup whole milk
2 tablespoons Chocolate Sport Recovery Mix
2 ¾ cups mini marshmallows
Preheat your oven to 350°F degrees. Spray a 9-inch cake pan with coconut oil and line with parchment (see how to cut a square piece of parchment paper into a round for a cake pan here!) Set the pan aside.
First, make the chocolate yogurt cream. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, maple and Chocolate Sport Recovery Mix until completely incorporated and creamy smooth. Set aside.
Next, gather the ingredients for the chocolate cake. In another small bowl, whisk together the whole milk, Chocolate Sport Recovery Mix, the oil and vanilla. Set aside. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and sea salt. Set aside. Now you’re ready to make the cake!
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or, in a large, deep bowl with a hand mixer,) combine the butter and sugar and cream together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture becomes light in color and fluffy. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium-high speed again until the eggs are incorporated completely. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly stream in the milk and oil mixture. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and paddle for 3-5 minutes, until the mixture is very light in color, nearly twice the volume of your original fluffy, butter-and-sugar mixture and homogeneous. (You don’t want ANY streaks of fat or liquid!) Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Turn the mixer on low speed again and add just 3 tablespoons of the chocolate yogurt cream. (Reserve the remaining creme for assembling the cake.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl again!
Lastly, with the mixer on very low speed, add the dry mixture and mix for just 45-60 seconds, just until the batter comes together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again, and mix on low speed for another 45 seconds or so to be sure there are no little lumps of dry ingredients.
Next, it’s time to bake the cake! Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth with a spatula. Tap the cake pan on your work surface a couple of times to be sure there aren’t any air bubbles and that the batter is even in the pan, then pop it into the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out completely clean, about 30 minutes.
Take the cake out of the oven and cool on a wire rack or, in a pinch, in the fridge or freezer. Once cool, run a knife around the circumference of the cake, invert it on a plate (or a nifty cardboard cake round!) and chill it in the refrigerator or, in the freezer for a couple of hours. (Freezing it makes it easier to cut!)
Once the cake is chilled, it’s time to cut and assemble it! In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and Chocolate Sport Recovery Mix and set aside.
Next, cut the cake into two equal rounds. With one clean hand pressing firmly on the top of the cake, use a long, serrated knife and run the knife along the middle of the cake, turning the cake (and not the knife!) Try to continue to cut along the same groove, gently inching the knife through the cake as you cut.
Using a pastry brush, paint half of the milk mixture into the top of one of the halves. Then spread with one half of the remaining chocolate yogurt cream. Top the yogurt cream with the marshmallows and make sure you get them all the way to the edge. Toast and burn the marshmallows to your liking with your kitchen torch (or VERY CAREFULLY under the broiler of your oven, or with a wand lighter.) Once the marshmallows are amply toasted, place the second cake round on top of the marshmallows.
Lastly, paint the top of the top cake with remaining chocolate milk, spread with remaining chocolate yogurt cream. Stick your cake with candles and make a wish!
