Sarah's Reduced-fat Chocolate Fudge Cake

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream or 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1/2 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder or 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder (can be used interchangeably in this recipe)
• 1 cup hot strong coffee or 2 teaspoons instant espresso or 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder (dissolved in 1 cup hot water)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (added last)
• 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso coffee powder
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon dutch-processed cocoa powder or 1 tablespoon natural cocoa powder (plus a scant pinch of baking soda)
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk (skim is fine)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Recipe

• 1 for the cake:.
• 2 position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees f; grease and optionally dust with cocoa powder (best used with"flouring" chocolate cake pans), two 8-inch round nonstick cake pans; the batter is very soupy and will stick to the pans unless properly prepared.
• 3 melt the chocolate squares over a double boiler or in the microwave; don't allow any water droplets to get introduced into the chocolate while it's melting otherwise it might"seize" (not a pretty sight); let cool until tepid.
• 4 in a medium bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until it resembles coarse bread crumbs, and scraping down the sides of the bowl often, about 2 minutes; beat in melted chocolate; add the buttermilk, eggs, egg whites and beat until smooth; i found that a food processor works well for this step.
• 5 in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa until well combined; (if the cocoa is lumpy, sift it, after measuring, onto a piece of waxed paper); with a large mixing spoon, add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, scraping down the bowl often; mix until smooth; with a cup held over the mixing bowl, dissolve the baking soda in a cup of hot coffee; the mixture will bubble up and may spill; add to the batter and mix until smooth; the batter will be very thin; divide it equally between prepared pans.
• 6 bake until the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pans, about 30 minutes; the tops should still be shiny; do not overbake; do not open the oven until the last 5 minutes of baking; cool in the pans on wire cake rack for 10 minutes; invert onto racks.
• 7 turn right side up and cool completely.
• 8 place one cake, flat side up, on a serving platter; spread with 1/3 of the fudge frosting; frost the top and sides of the cake with the remainder and serve.
• 9 for the frosting:.
• 10 melt the chocolate squares (1 minute on high power in the microwave); let cool until tepid.
• 11 beat together ingredients (food processor works well); if this is too runny or dry, add sugar or milk to correct; best used when applied to the cake at room temperature.
• 12 additional chef notes:.
• 13 for the cake, sarah recommends using the sour cream as she says the result is moister; i used powdered buttermilk prepared in plain nonfat yogurt and was very pleased with the outcome.
• 14 i had good results using 1 whole stick of light butter in place of 1/2 stick full-fat butter; i also whizzed up about 3 t of oatrim in with the liquid ingredients; oatrim is hydrolyzed oat bran, and it's useful for helping to retain that oh-so-yummy fatty mouthfeel in reduced-fat baked goods.
• 15 i didn't have bittersweet chocolate, and didn't feel like making a run to the store, so when i made this the other day, i used dark chocolate in the cake and semi-sweet chocolate chips in the frosting; worked great!
• 16 i ended up using some xanthan gum (1/4 tsp) to thicken the frosting as i didn't want to add too much sugar; i recommend adding half the called-for amounts of liquid to the frosting, and then slowly adding more.
• 17 when i prepared this, i doubled the cake recipe and the yield was 24 cupcakes plus 1 small rectangular cake prepared in an 8x4" loaf pan.