Chocolate cake with strawberry puree

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! This post is about my first attempt at baking a chocolate cake. And, since I was baking it for Valentine’s day, I really wanted it to turn out well. However, I couldn’t resist myself from experimenting with different ingredients. I didn’t want to make just a plain chocolate cake…I wanted it to be moist. So, I used oil instead of butter – healthier and moist! I also wanted to add strawberry coulis- but then I didn’t want to add more sugar and discard the fiber (seeds) to make the coulis. Instead, I decided to add a smooth strawberry puree without straining. The outcome was good, certified by Neeraj. 🙂

Lessons learned: I did feel like the cake could be better. Here is what I learned from my first attempt. Strawberries should be sweet, if you don’t want to add sugar to make your coulis/ puree. That’s why I dusted some sugar on the cake. Better to buy strawberries at the farmer’s market, where you can taste the produce.

I think regular sugar might work better than brown sugar. I’d read that brown sugar gives a better flavor. But, I think original chocolate flavor shall suffice. Although, Neeraj liked this better. So, it might just be a matter of preference.

We like our cake not too sweet & without frosting. But if you are used to sweet cakes with frosting, you may want to use less cocoa.

If you have any suggestions for baking a chocolate cake with a difference….please do pass them along. One of my fellow bloggers, “Cooking up the pantry” has posted a black beans chocolate cake recipe. So next time I would be experimenting with black beans & chocolate.

Per serving: 126 cals | 2 g protein | 1 g fiber | 6 g total fat | 2.5 mg omega 3 fatty acid

Ingredients (15-20 pieces depending on size)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar (or regular sugar)

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

½ cup oil (canola)

¾ cup raisins, pureed

1 cup strawberry puree

Procedure

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Grease a 8″ round baking dish (round or rectangular) with oil/ cooking spray and sprinkle flour to coat it evenly.
Puree the strawberries and raisins separately.
Mix all the dry ingredients well in a large mixing bowl.
Separate the egg white and yolks and beat them well. Whites can be beaten to soft peaks stage. If you don’t want to separate the egg whites and beat them longer, then that is fine too! The longer the egg whites are beaten (but not beyond stiff peak stage, after which it will fall apart), the lighter your cake will be.
Add the beaten eggs and oil to the dry mixture and blend well.
Then add the strawberry & raisin purees and mix well.
Now pour the mixture into a greased baking dish. Tap the dish on the counter so that the batter spreads evenly. It is best not to smooth out the surface with the spatula as it may not leaven (rise) in those areas.
Bake for 30 mins. Then check the cake with a clean dry knife. If the knife comes out clean at the center and near the edge, then the cake is done.
Remove it from the oven and let it cool. Then run a knife around the edge of the cake and flip it over. Cut into desirable shapes or slices.
Dust the cake pieces with some sugar – this is optional.
Another way to serve would be to make a fresh strawberry sauce. Dice a few strawberries and cook them in a small saucepan with some water. Add sugar depending on how sweet or sour your strawberries are. Once the strawberries are cooked and the sauce has thickened, pour it over the cake slices on individual plates.
Enjoy!