they say it's your birthday!

Today is my Dad’s birthday!  I asked him what type of cake he wanted to which he replied cherry.  He told me about how when he was a little boy in Montreal, he used to go down to the corner store and they had the best cherry cake in the world.  And how much he loved that cherry cake.  Wanting to recreate that happy childhood I tried all week to create a healthy cherry cake recipe.  

Sadly, my cake sciences failed me this week.  I managed to make a very pink half-cooked cake.  Really not the throwback that I was looking for.  In my frustration I decided to throw out what he wanted and go with what I knew I could do.... chocolate.

This is an AWESOME recipe for chocolate cake.  It’s rich and delicious and not full of butter, so that’s a big plus.  I will put in a disclaimer though, I wouldn’t recommend substituting ingredients.  Baked goods are a bit of science, and can be very frustrating if you don’t follow the recipe just right.  It’s taken a lot of trial and error for me to get recipes just right using things like cane sugar & whole grain flour, and there have been many a failed attempt.

But on with the show!

Low-Fat Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

you will need:

• 2 mixing bowls
• a wooden spoon or spatula
• an electric hand mixer
• a 8x8 pan (like you would use to make brownies)

ingredients:

• 1 c. no-fat sour cream (I use jersey farms, but anything is fine)
• 1 c. raw cane sugar (try Cocoa Camino or Wholesome Foods in Canada)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp margarine, melted (I like celeb or becel)
• 1 1/2 c. whole grain pastry flour (I always use Nunweiler’s)
• 3/4 c. cocoa powder (again, Cocoa Camino makes great stuff, and it comes in bulk at Save-On)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs

In one big bowl mix the sour cream, sugar, vanilla & margarine together until smooth.  Put all the dry ingredients in the other bowl and mix them around until all the cocoa & flour mesh.

Next carefully add the dry ingredients in with the wet and give it a quick mix. Crack in the 3 eggs.  Put your mixer on high and mix everything together until smooth (like you do when you make a Betty Crocker-type mix cake).  It’ll take around 2 minutes or so.

Grease an 8x8 pan with a little margarine & pour the mix in.  Bake it for about 35 minutes at 350F.  Test it with a toothpick, and as long as it comes out clean you should be good to go!

Go ahead & lick the bowl.  You know you want to.

Bonus:

For a really quick & rich icing try this.  Melt 4oz of dark chocolate in a small pot on the stove.  When totally melted remove from heat & transfer to a bowl.  Stir in 2-3 tbsp of the no-fat sour cream.  Magically it will turn into icing.  Just don’t put it in the fridge because then it will turn into a rock of chocolate goo.

Comments

[Kittie]

Looks like a super yummy recipe. I must try that one. Sorry to hear the cherry cake crapped out on you. Your dad is pretty lucky to have you for his daughter. :)

[kat]

Thanks Kittie!
Trying to figure out how to make cherry cake was... challenging. I may try again one day, but not soon :)