A chocoholic’s delight with “good for you” ingredients

I’ve always enjoyed baking. But I’ve really only started experimenting with it over the last 2 years. The challenge of re-working a recipe to make it healthier (and lower in calories) and the joy you get when you end up with something lip-smacking is a different feeling altogether.

That’s why, last month, on the morning of Fathers’ Day, when I impulsively decided on a mini-celebration for the two dads in my house (my father-in-law and my husband), I resorted to baking a cake myself. However, there were restrictions, some self-imposed and some driven by lack of planning. The recipe had to be:

1) quick and easy – my active toddler wouldn’t give me a very large window of time to spare for baking something elaborate

2) healthy and yet tasty – if it wasn’t healthy I wouldn’t be baking it and if it wasn’t tasty nobody would be eating it!

3) with minimal ingredients – I only had the basics available at home, nothing fancy

4) devoid of refined flour (maida) – sugar was going to provide empty calories, I didn’t need refined flour to join the bandwagon as well

5) chocolate flavoured – because nothing says “celebration” better than chocolate does, especially in a house full of chocolate lovers

So, after some “Google” time followed by some “Calorie Culture” tweaks, an hour later, this is what I baked:

This dark chocolate brownie cake was moist and versatile enough to be enjoyed hot or cold; and with or without ice-cream. You can even change what you use as garnish (I used chocolate sprinkles but you can use nuts or icing as well). The recipe I used is adapted from http://nourishedsimply.com/whole-wheat-chocolate-muffins/.

Recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oat bran (adds great texture but if you want a smoother feel you can use oat flour or powdered oats instead)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups skim milk

1/4 cup oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup chocolate sprinkles, for garnish (I had them at home so I used them. They don’t change the flavor of the cake, they only add to its appearance)

Preheat the oven to 200C. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add in the skim milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir just until wet. Slowly pour in the oil while stirring the batter until it is just combined. Pour the batter into a foil-lined baking pan and bake for about 20-30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean from the centre of the baking pan.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!