I know I have been gone for about two weeks, it was a mixture of being sick and then the baby being sick and then getting very busy with life, so here is a brand new post for Home Cooked Meals.
I hope you enjoy this post.
Chocloate Almond Cake
(Done three ways!)
Do you ever get that craving? That "I must have chocolate right now... to the car!" feeling. I used to be one of those people. And today, I wanted nothing more than to hop in m car and run to the Shoppers and get some dark Lindt chocolate, some fashion mags, ice cream, whipped cream, and maybe even some cookies. I would probably spend about $30 on comforting myself.
And through my journey I have realized that while that is fast and easy, it is also a wonderful exercise in instant gratification, not to mention a deplorable lack of self control, money management and a complete disregard for all of the hard work I have done in the weight loss journey.
Now, I know that eating chocolate cake isn't much better than a chocolate bar, but I do think that maybe, just maybe, 1/24 of this crunchy, soft, chocolatey bundt, even with a dollop of lemony whipped cream or some organic caramel sauce, better, more satisfying, and a LITTLE healthier than a chocolate bar.
We will see.
This is not a healthy dessert. It is a nut and chocolate cake. I make it with whole wheat flour and low fat (1%) evaporated milk, but that is where the bus stops.
This is a lovely cake that I have to say I am very proud of. It is the first cake I have every made without a recipe. I just knew from experience what I needed to put in, and then I added the egg last so that I could taste the mixture for the sweetness and the chocolate level.
I hope the next time you get a craving for chocolate, you get to the kitchen instead of getting to the car.
It's easy and lovely and made from things most people have in their home already.
Get ready to have your chocolate craving satisfied.
Chocolate Almond Cake
1 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2/3 of a cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup 1 % evaporate milk
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup slivered almonds
Put your kettle on and boil some water.
Get out your beater or stand mixer.
Get out your sifter.
Get out a dry bowl, or a piece of parchment paper.
Get out your spatula.
And get out your measuring cups (I used a 1/4 and a 1/3 measuring cup, a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, and a 1/2 teaspoon to save on dishes).
Also, get out your cake pan. I used a bunt, but use whatever you want. (For some great portion control, buy some mini silicone bunt pans [I found mine at Superstore] and freeze them in a gallon size Ziploc bag. When you want to have a little treat, just pop it in the microwave for 45-60 seconds. Yum!)
Layer your flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into your sifter. You really want to sift everything together so that you batter is smooth and well combined. Sit it onto your piece of parchment or into your dry bowl and set aside.
Put your evaporated milk and water (NOT the boiling stuff, just regular room temp water), oil, eggs, and almond extract into your mixer and cream together. With that same liquid measuring cup. pour the boiling water in and add the cocoa powder and whisk together ( you can use one of your measuring spoons) until smooth. It doesn't have to be perfect, but get it as close as you can.
Add that mixture to your mixer. Then add in your dry ingredients. I used my 1/3 cup measure to slowly add it in with the mixer going. Then add in 1/3 of your almonds.
Sprinkle the other 1/3 in the bottom of your cake pan. Gently pour your batter into the cake pan.
Throw into your oven and let it bake for 45-50 minutes, though I used a convection oven and only needed 35-40 minutes. Use a cake tester to test your cake. If it comes out clean,. it's done. Turn over onto a cooling rack and let it to set for about 15 minutes. Then slice into it, in 1\24 slices.
You can enjoy this lovely cake in four different ways, though there are probably a hundred more, this is how I did mine:
With a small scoop of ice cream, and some organic caramel sauce.
With some home made lemon whipped cream, light and refreshing.
With some freshly whipped chocolate buttercream icing.
Or just by itself.
Now for the down and dirty:
This site says that for 1 3 Musketeers bars, which claims to have 1/3 fat of a regular candy bar, has:
240 Calories
1 g Fibre
7 g Fat
36 g Sugar
1 g Protein
42 Carbohydrates
1 slice of my cake (1/24) has:
129 Calories
5.3 Fat
19 Carbohydrates
1.42 Fibre
9.11 Sugar
.9 Protein
Which means you can have you cake, and eat it to, without ever leaving your warm, cozy kitchen.
Dig in!
Warm wishes.
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