Naked Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tbsp. coconut oil
• 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole grain flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup mini dark chocolate chips
• 2 large bunches of green or red grapes
• 470 ml raspberries
• 240 ml blackberries
• 240 ml blueberries
• 240 ml strawberries
• Homemade whipped cream (you can reduce the amount of sugar if you like), for serving
• Store-bought chocolate syrup, for drizzling
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar, optional

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Coat two 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray or butter and dust them with flour.
2. Microwave the coconut oil until softened or almost melted, but still not hot (up to 30 seconds). Then pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the yogurt, brown sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
3. Sift flour with cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl.
4. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the yogurt mixture, then 1/4 cup of milk. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and milk. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (22–26 minutes). (Cooking time may vary depending on the quality of the ingredients and the surrounding conditions.) Let the cakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. For assembly: Wash grapes, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries until they are shiny and clean.
7. Place 1 cake layer on a cake stand and spread about 3/4 cup of whipped cream on top. Place a 1-1/2-inch strawberry, pointed end up, in the center. This will prevent the cream from smearing when you add the next cake layer. Arrange some of the fruit around the edges of the cake. Since this is a "naked" cake, it's important to pay attention to how you arrange the berries around the edges.
8. Place the remaining cake layer on top. First, lay out a bunch of grapes, then begin building the composition around them. Fill in the gaps with raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Add a few more grapes for color balance. Finally, arrange a few strawberries around the edge and perhaps add another on top.
9. Drizzle the cake with chocolate syrup and refrigerate. If using powdered sugar, dust it just before serving.