A rich, creamy chocolate cake may sound downright delicious, but the extra calories, fat, and sodium aren't good for your waistline or your health.
Today's cake recipe offers tons of flavor, yet leaves you guilt-free.
Traditional cakes with butter, lard or vegetable fat; All are high in saturated fat, which can raise LDL or bad cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. We use graham crackers and some margarine which is mostly made up of unsaturated fats to make our molds. In the past, margarine was processed to produce bad trans fats, but these margarines are no longer sold in the United States.
Chocolate cake fillings usually contain butter, egg yolks and cream that are high in fat and cholesterol. Alternatively, mix up some nonfat cream cheese and chocolate milk.
Finally, the more traditional chocolate desserts hide ice cream, sources of cholesterol and saturated fat. But we put our delicious strawberries on the cake. These sweet berries are full of flavor and nutrition and make a great addition to chocolate. Half a cup of strawberries provides 4 grams of fiber and 18 percent of your daily vitamin C requirement. Raspberries contain antioxidants that protect cells from free radical damage.
We had a lot of fun testing this recipe to make sure you have the right combination of ingredients so you can get your chocolate fix under 200 calories per serving.
Bethany Thayer is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at Henry Ford Health. For more recipes and health information, visit henryford.com/blog. For questions about today's recipe, please email HenryFordLiveWell@hfhs.org.
Servings : 20 servings / Prep Time: 30 minutes / Total: 30 minutes plus cooling time
1 package (5.9 oz) of Instant Chocolate Milk Mix
3 cups of raw milk
1½ cups finely chopped (about 21 squares)
¼ cup margarine, melted
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
Sugar 5 tbsp
8 ounces nonfat cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup of fresh strawberries
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the chocolate milk and skim milk for 2 minutes. Refrigerate to cool. In a medium bowl, combine the crushed graham crackers, margarine, and cocoa powder and mix well.
Transfer the yogurt mixture to a 9-by-13-inch pan and press evenly to form a flat crust. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and let cool while you prepare the filling.
Place the cream cheese in a medium bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually whisk the sugar and 1 1/2 cups of milk into the chocolate. Cover the mixture with a lid and refrigerate for an hour. Remove the remaining milk chocolate and strawberries and fill them.
By Henry Ford Livewell
118 calories (22% from fat), 3 g fat (0.5 g saturated fat), 19 g carbohydrates , 4 g protein , 194 mg sodium , 2 cholesterol , 89 mg calcium , 1 g fibers . Food Exchange: 1 starch, ½ milk, 1 fat .
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: Chocolate cake is low in calories and free from butter, egg yolks and cream.