A quick backstory: Kyle loves driving off-road - which, for me, is as scary to envision as it is to sit through (last time we went, I held on for dear life while he was calm as a cucumber). But since I can't stop him, I decided to join him and celebrate his passion on his birthday. And in my ridiculous brain, dirt looks like chocolate, trails look like crushed cookies and rivers look like fondant. Don't you agree?
Not into off-roading? No problem, use the cake, frosting and fondant to celebrate any passion!!!
About the cake: This is, BY FAR, the best homemade chocolate cake I've ever made. I'm constantly tweaking and changing ingredients and proportions in my cakes, but I might not ever tweak again. I'm not sure if it was the hot milk, the yogurt, or the fact that I DIDN'T NEED MY MIXER, but things came out perfectly. And get this, there are only 4 tablespoons of butter in the entire cake! Skip the frosting and you could serve this for breakfast!
About the frosting: This is my favorite, go-to frosting and it's a simple ganache made with heavy cream and semisweet chocolate chips. If you want to skip making a frosting from scratch (even though it's super simple), use store-bought frosting.
About the fondant: This isn't your mother's fondant, trust me. It's a marshmallow-based fondant made with just 2 ingredients (3 if you count water)! You'll need Crisco to coat the counter, but that's not really an ingredient, just a life-saver! Also, you don't need the entire batch for the river (unless you add a huge lake). So, you can either cut the recipe in half, or store the leftovers in a sealable plastic bag for up to 2 weeks (at room temperature). I always make the whole batch because everyone loves to nibble on the fondant after I serve the cake (in fact, the kids went to the movies after the birthday party and brought the fondant with them)! You can color the fondant any color you want (or multiple colors from the same batch) and it can be rolled out and cut into shapes. Definitely hold onto this recipe for future cake adventures!
For the chocolate cake:
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup Greek yogurt (vanilla or plain)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk (I used 2%)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
For the chocolate ganache frosting:
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
For the marshmallow fondant:
1 bag mini marshmallows
2 tablespoons water
1/2 bag powdered sugar, or a little more if necessary
Crisco for coating the counter
Food coloring (blue if you're making a river)
For the trails:
4-5 Chips Ahoy cookies, crushed in food processor, coffee grinder or in a sealable plastic bag (use a rolling pin to crush the cookies when they're in a plastic bag)
To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with a whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Fold the mixture into the flour mixture (don't worry if it looks dry, we'll fix that next).
Combine the milk and butter in a small saucepan and set the pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until the butter melts completely. Add the hot milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine (start with a wooden spoon or spatula and then switch to a whisk). Whisk until smooth (any clumps of brown sugar should be gone by now, thanks to the hot milk mixture).
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out with little moist bits clinging to it. Cool the pan on a wire rack.
While the cake cools, make the frosting and fondant.
To make the frosting, place the chocolate chips in a medium, heat-proof bowl. Set aside.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it just starts to boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 10 minutes - without stirring (stirring cools the ganache too quickly and can make it grainy).
After 10 minutes, gently stir the ganache until the mixture is smooth and glossy, scraping and incorporating the chocolate from the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Transfer the frosting to a mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 to 4 minutes. Use the frosting to ice the top and sides of the cake.
To make the fondant, combine the marshmallows and water in a large, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds. Stir. Continue microwaving and stirring, in 30-second increments, until the marshmallows are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. The total time should be 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
Fold in the powdered sugar.
Generously coat your counter with the Crisco. Coat your hands too. Transfer the marshmallow mixture to the counter and knead until smooth until glossy (this doesn't take very long; just a few minutes). If the mixture seems "wet", add a little more powdered sugar. If the mixture starts to stick, add more Crisco to the counter. Add several drops of food coloring and knead until you reach the desired color (I used a LOT of liquid food coloring for that deep blue color). Store the fondant in a sealable plastic bag until ready to use. When ready, pull as much fondant as you need for the cake, shape it into a winding river, and place on top of the cake.
Use the crushed cookies to add trails all over the cake - add as many as you want!
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