If You are Going to Eat Just One Treat for Valentine's - Make It This One

February 9, 2010   5 Comments

You can't walk into a store right now without being bombarded with chocolate. The lovely heart shaped boxes in red just sing out - buy me! Chocolates can be over 160 calories each!

Don't do it! Instead, take the time to bake. Baking is a wonderful way to enjoy chocolate. You can make something heavenly and worth spending the calories on. Also, if you have a sweetie, they will love you even more if you make your home smell good.

I just want to say this to all the men who read this site. There is NOTHING sexier than a man who bakes. Especially one that uses alot of frosting. I digress...

One of the simplest, and most delicious chocolate confections is flourless chocolate cake. It is moist like a brownie, but less chewy.

The great thing about this recipe is that you only use 2 bowls (one for the cake, and one for your eggs) and one pan. Clean up is effortless and it is super fast to make.

The key with chocolate is to heat it carefully. It will seize up and become inedible if it is heated too hot. So, the most important step is melting the chocolate carefully over the water. Once you do this, it is like any other cake recipe, except easier because you don't even need a mixer.

A note about flipping it out of the pan - I was not successful when I made it so I just left it there. I have always found it to be tricky, unless I butter and flour parchment paper for the bottom of my cake. I was too lazy when I made this to include this step.

One slice of this is equivalent to a Doughnut, but it tastes much better and it has nutritional value. When you use eggs and butter, you get nutrients that you need.

Chocolate is also pretty good for you see: Healthy Chocolate. Obviously, the calorie value does not make this a healthy snack - but an occasional treat.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Serves 8
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 F. Grease an 8 inch round cake pan and dust with cocoa powder. If you want to ensure the cake comes out then cut a circle of parchment paper for the bottom and grease and dust with cocoa powder. Put chocolate and butter in a metal or glass bowl over a pan of simmering water or use a double boiler to melt the chocolate and butter. The second the chocolate melts, remove from heat. Stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into pan and bake for 30 minutes. If removing from pan, let cool in pan for 10 minutes and turn out onto wire rack.

What will be your treat this Valentine's Day? Please share!

Want more like this?
A Delicious and Reasonable Ice Cream Treat
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Have a Healthy Brownie! (a Mere 77 Calories)