Friday, April 13, 2012

Back From Hiatus!

As they often do in TV shows to their viewers' disappointment, I have been on hiatus as I had given up dessert for Lent. I still did cook a couple of things for other people, for example a gluten free cake and a low-calorie German Chocolate Cake and Spanish Flan for my mother's birthday. Therefore, I have a slight traffic jam of recipes which have built up, and will therefore be busy getting my blog, which I am sure many of you have stopped reading, up to date.

My mother's favorite cake is the German Chocolate variety. However, she has been trying to stay healthy, and that happens to be one of the least healthy desserts that is out there, so I searched for a highly-rated, low-calorie recipe which would not compromise all of the flavor. It turned out pretty good, of course the flavor was slightly less rich than it's calorie-packed counterpart, but I regard this as a winner. The recipe and a picture follow!

Cake:
What's Inside:
-3 oz milk chocolate chips
-3 tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
-1/3 cup boiling water
-1 1/3 cups flour
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-3 tbsp butter, softened
-1/2 cup packed brown sugar
-1/3 cup granulated sugar
-3 room temperature eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 cup low fat (NOT FAT FREE!) sour crem

How to Make It:
1) Move oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees
2) Grease and flour two round 9-inch cake pans
3) Whisk chocolate, cocoa and boiling water in a bowl and set aside to cool
4) In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.
5) In yet another separate bowl, beat butter and sugars with electric mixer until mixture is light and sticks to sides of bowl
6) Add eggs one at a time until just combined
7) With mixer speed on low, add chocolate mixture and vanilla until just incorporated, then add the flour and sour cream, alternating an addition from each
8) Divide batter into pans and bake 10-15 minutes. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes, then allow to cool on wire racks for at least an hour.

Frosting:
What's Inside:
-1 cup fat free evaporated milk
-3 tbsp cornstarch
-2 tbsp butter
-2/3 cup packed brown sugar
-1 tbsp vanilla or coconut extract
-1/3 cup chopped pecans
-1/2 cup sweetened coconut, toasted (toast coconut on cookie sheet in a 325 degree oven, shaking the sheet often until golden color)

How to Make It:
1) Whisk evaporated milk, cornstarch, butter, and brown sugar in saucepan until bubbling (about 3 min) and then continue to heat until thickened
2) Remove from heat and stir in vanilla/coconut, and all but 1 tbsp each of pecans and shredded coconut. Cool to room temperature before frosting cake, which should also be at room temperature.
3) Top the first layer with half of the frosting, and then top with the other layer and remaining frosting, pecans and coconut.

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