Friday, January 19, 2007

Sugar High Friday #27 Submission: Chocolate Decadence




David Lebovitz is hosting this month's Sugar High Friday and chose chocolate as the theme ingredient.

Yum!

This desert, Chocolate Decadence, not only fulfills David's requirements but also fulfills mine for 2007: a healthy (or healthier...) dessert that doesn't taste that way.

Wonderfully (luckily, Thank God-ily), this recipe does just that: it is a decadent dessert. Served warm from the oven, a serving of this deeply rich cake is packed with enough flavor to sate the deepest chocolate craving. Dense and moist, the fudge-like consistency is punctuated by pockets of velvety melted dark chocolate.

To really impress, sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar on the cake, and drizzle a smidge of raspberry coulis on the plate.

Creating a good chocolate flavor was simple, using ingredients readily available at the grocery store. I used Hershey's cocoa, Ghirardelli 60-percent cacao chips, and Scharffen Berger 99-percent cacao unsweetened baking bar. I haven't been impressed by Scharffen Berger's chocolate punch, but the bar was in my Christmas stocking and therefore, in the house. Maybe it's a better bar, or maybe the small amount used in the recipe (1/2 ounce) didn't have too much effect on the end result, but the dessert is excellent.

Chocolate Decadence

Cooking spray
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white
8 teaspoons semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.

Lightly coat 4 (2-ounce) ramekins with cooking spray, and sprinkle 3/4 teaspoon sugar into each of the ramekins, shaking and turning to coat. Set prepared ramekins aside. (If you don't have ramekins, you can use a standard muffin tin.)

Combine 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, milk, and cocoa in a small saucepan, stirring well with a whisk. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 30 seconds or until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add the butter and 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Cool chocolate mixture 10 minutes.

Add flour, vanilla, salt, and egg white to chocolate mixture, stirring with a whisk just until blended. Spoon 2 tablespoons chocolate mixture into each prepared ramekin, and top each with 2 teaspoons chocolate chips. Divide the remaining chocolate mixture evenly among ramekins, spreading to cover the chocolate chips. Bake at 350-degrees F for 20 minutes or until barely set. Cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto dessert plates. Serve warm.

Yield: 4 servings


Grade: A

10 comments:

Brilynn said...

I think I would eat the whole thing, thus defeating the point of trying to be "healthy".

David said...

Laura: You put the decadence back in chocolate decadence (if that makes any sense..) Thanks for your uber-rich contribution to SHF #27!

Anonymous said...

That looks so delicious and rich.

Unknown said...

I like your blog, can;t wait to read more! Stumbled here through Acme Instant, and enjoying all your recipes!

Lis said...

Wow.. it looks like that and it's healthy for you? I'm amazed - happily so! Another LR recipe that's been printed out and slapped on the "Must Make" pile! :D

Anonymous said...

No way that's healthy. How can it be healthy? It looks and sounds way way way too decadent to be healthy (well, as far as chocolate desserts go!).

Methinks I shall have to give this one a go - what with all the miles I've been running and iron I've been pumping at the gym, I could do with some better dessert options not to undo my trainer's good work!

Anonymous said...

Looks decadent.

Laura Rebecca said...

Duh - I should have published the nutritional info from Cooking Light so everyone can see how healthy (er, healthier) this is:

CALORIES 315(31% from fat); FAT 11g (sat 5.7g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 4.1g; CHOLESTEROL 13.4mg; CALCIUM 27mg; SODIUM 140mg; FIBER 1.6g; IRON 2.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 52.1g

Obviously, it's not something you'd eat everyday, but (I think) it's a pretty impressive and delicious dessert. The fact that it isn't a gazillion calories is, um, "icing on the cake."

You could further reduce the calorie count by using Splenda, but in this dessert, I didn't think it yeilded the best results. Normally, I can't detect a Splenda aftertaste, but I could in this dessert. It's not horrible -- still tasty -- but not as fabulous as when using all sugar.

Last, but not least, thank you all so much for your nice comments! (Garrett - I like your blog a lot, too, & added it to my blog roll.)

Anonymous said...

Decadent and delicious! Well done, Laura!

Barbara said...

That picture is one that makes my mouth water at the thought of the rich choclate taste, all gooey and sinful! This one will be featured at my next dinner party for sure!