GUILT-FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” - Charles M. Schulz
 

Now that the holidays are over and we have had the rather rich fare of the Christmas and New Year festivities, we should be easing into a healthier diet. This chocolate cake recipe has reduced fat content and is a healthier, but tasty, option than the fully-fledged, butter-rich version.
 

GUILT-FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Ingredients – Cake
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fruit purée fat replacement (see below)
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 and 3/4 cups sugar
 

Ingredients – Fruit purée fat replacement
Purée 2/3 cup pitted prunes (or equal amounts of prunes and dried apples) and 1/3 cup water in a blender or processor until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon each of lemon juice and lecithin granules (available in health food stores) and blend again.
The dark colour and strong flavour of this fat replacement make it best suited to chocolate-based or heavily spiced baked goods. To replace 1/2 cup butter, use 1/3 cup prune purée (makes 1 cup purée).
 

Ingredients – Glaze
2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, or almonds
3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons low-fat milk
 

Method
Prepare fruit purée fat replacement.

To make cake: Preheat oven to 165°C. Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.
Place eggs and egg whites in a large mixing bowl and set bowl in a pan of hot water; stir occasionally to warm eggs.

Meanwhile, sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
Whisk buttermilk, fruit purée, oil, coffee granules and vanilla in another medium bowl. Set aside.
Remove bowl of eggs from water. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed. Gradually add sugar. Increase mixer speed to high and continue beating until mixture is thick and pale, about 5 minutes.
Alternately fold the reserved dry ingredients and buttermilk mixture into egg mixture with a rubber spatula, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 additions of buttermilk mixture. Scrape the batter into prepared pan.
Bake until top springs back when touched lightly and cake shrinks away slightly from sides of pan, 50 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Loosen edges and invert cake onto rack. Cool completely.
To make glaze and finish cake: Spread nuts in a shallow pan and bake in a 325°F oven until fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool.
Combine chocolate and milk in a small heavy saucepan; heat over low heat, stirring, until glaze is smooth, and coat cake.
 

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,

and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.