My mother’s original version was so good that I hesitated to tamper with it, but once I gained the courage, I found that it’s even better with yogurt and olive oil than with butter and sour cream! I always make a double recipe and freeze the sheet cake. This cake is so popular, moist and chocolaty, that it comes in handy for any special occasion.
Makes one 9 inch X 13 inch rectangular sheet cake plus two 9 inch layers
or
Makes three 9 inch layers plus one small square or circle or a very thin 9 inch X 13 inch rectangular sheet cake
Ingredients
- 5 cups sugar (1 kg + about ½ cup)
- 5 cups flour (1 ¾ to 2 cups less than 1 kg; best to measure with measuring cups)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 vials powdered vanilla (or a couple teaspoons of liquid vanilla flavoring)
- 1 3/5 (yes, about 1 3/5, a bit less than 1 ¾) cups extra virgin olive oil (perhaps a delicate, smooth, mellow, and/or buttery one, probably not an early harvest); part or all could be citrus flavored, if you like the citrus/chocolate combination, for example with bitter orange flavored EVOO
- Oil for greasing cake pans (I like to pour a little on a paper towel for a thin, even coating)
- 1 ½ cups (125 g + about ¼ cup; best to measure with cups) unsweetened cocoa powder
- Additional cocoa to use instead of flour to coat pans after greasing them
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 ½ cups (340 g) Greek yogurt (full fat)
- 5 eggs
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
Directions
In your largest bowl, mix the following:
5 cups sugar (1 kg + about ½ cup)
5 cups flour (1 ¾ to 2 cups less than 1 kg; best to measure with measuring cups)
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
4 vials powdered vanilla (or a couple teaspoons of liquid vanilla flavoring)
In a large saucepan on the stove, melt these together:
1 3/5 (yes, about 1 3/5, a bit less than 1 ¾) cups extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ cups (125 g + about ¼ cup; best to measure with cups) unsweetened cocoa powder
Then add 2 ½ cups water. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.
Stir hot mixture in with dry ingredients, then beat with an electric mixer until smooth (1-2 minutes).
Add 1 1/2 cups (340 g) Greek yogurt (full fat). Beat 1 minute.
In another bowl, beat well 5 eggs.
Add eggs to the other mix and beat 1 minute at low speed.
Measure 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, smooth out lumps with your fingers, and sprinkle it over the batter with your fingers. Stir it in gently to blend thoroughly, but do not overmix.
Pour into greased and cocoa’d (not floured) pans, and bake right away.
Bake at 350 F (180 C) for about 45 minutes, or more if necessary, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (free of wet dough). 45 minutes is usually enough for square or 9 inch round pans or a thin 9X13, but a full-size 9X13 may need another 5 or 10 minutes.
Cool 10-15 minutes, then remove layers from pans by turning them upside down onto plates. Inspect layers; flip the best top up. If the layers aren’t level, and neither top is good, some pruning may be necessary, and the bottom up may work best if you will be frosting a layer cake. Don’t leave layers upside down when taken out of the pans without cutting off the rounded part; they may break. Leave a sheet cake in its pan.
Cooled cakes can be wrapped in plastic wrap and then foil, and frozen for later use; a Pyrex pan can go in the freezer with the cake in it. Cakes can be frosted before freezing if desired.
Freeze cakes for two hours or more before frosting with warm frosting, because frosting can otherwise be hard to spread without breaking off bits of cake. Or just dust the cake with powdered sugar before serving, as Greeks do!
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In loving memory of my wonderful mother, Linda Sue Klahr, expert cook and baker