Sunday, June 13, 2010

Whole Wheat Chocolate Blueberry Cake


There is chocolate in my hair. There is chocolate on my cheek. There is chocolate on the floor. Luckily, some of it was salvaged, and actually made it into the pan.
Today was a very messy day in my kitchen (see below). Everything that could have happened did, and despite the chaos, I managed to pull off a fantastic and get this, healthy dessert. Well, compared to most desserts, that is.
The mess started off innocently enough... just a bit of flour on the counter. Then the whipped cream dropped on my toe. This is real, I promise. I actually missed the entire measuring cup. Susie would have killed me--seriously. She spent hours cleaning the house yesterday.. oops!


Anyway, my parents and I go to the farmers market every week, and this time, we got a lot of blueberries--a lot. This is great news for me, because anything in excess lets me get creative.
This recipe has no butter and uses whole wheat flour instead of white. It incorporates fresh blueberries and is perfect for the summer. There are a few changes I made to the original, but I think mine works very well.
The cake is dense and perfectly complemented by the light chocolate sauce. The blueberry glaze really brightens up the dish too. I usually love a scoop of vanilla ice cream with my cake, but this stands great on it’s own. So, read on…

What ya need:
1  cup whole wheat flour
1  cup sugar
6  Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4  tsp. baking powder
1/2  tsp. baking soda
1/4  tsp. salt
3/4  cup water
1/2  cup fresh blueberries
1  egg
1/2  cup whipped cream (I made my own)
1/2  cup semisweet chocolate pieces
Fresh blueberries and Blueberry Sauce (see recipe below)

What ya do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a blender, combine the water, ½ cup of blueberries and egg. Cover and blend until smooth. Add to the flour mixture. Whisk until well combined. Pour into a greased 8x8x2 baking pan, and bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack and eventually, invert onto the platter you want to serve on.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and the whipped cream in a double boiler. Let sit 5 minutes before pouring over cooled cake.

For the blueberry sauce:
¼ cup sugar
1.5 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp +2 tsp water
1 cup blueberries

In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in water. Add blueberries, bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve alongside cake.

The first bite, as mentioned earlier, was so dynamic. The sweet taste of the blueberry sauce brought out the subtle flavor in the cake. The chocolate sauce tied everything together. I can't wait to share this with my family, and you should too!
It was a lovely and lazy weekend that led to a lovely, lazy Sunday. I hope yours was just as nice!



14 comments:

Jason Phelps said...

Ahhhh, the mess means it is going to be good.

Jason

Roxan said...

Now that's what I call a messie kitchen, I love it! :) Cake looks delicious.

Ms. F said...

I fully approve of a messy kitchen! I had about a foot square to make bread this evening but it was worth it. I love all the cocoa, I had a um, incident with cocoa the other day and I learned that extra cocoa makes cake fudgy. Very cool! Have you tried any espresso in it?

GreenGirl said...

Guess today was messy kitchen day, my kitchen was upside down when i finished cooking lol
The cake looks delicious, and using whole wheat flour will make me less guilty when I make it ;)

Monet said...

I'm all about a messy kitchen too! You just have to get in there and remind yourself it's about having fun. And what a beautiful result you had! The cake looks scrumptious!

The Chocolate Priestess said...

Ah, what a mess and yet sometimes messiness is a requirement to make a great meal or dessert, or maybe that's just in my house?

Cooking with Kait said...

A mess it was, but well worth it for this healthy cake.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh...this makes my mouth water :)

Rick said...

A clean cook is a boring cook. This looks so good. And healthy! Nice to get fiber with some chocolate.

Magic of Spice said...

What an absolutely beautiful cake!

Joy said...

That looks so so good. I want some now. :D

CC Recipe said...

I love, love, love that this cake is whole wheat...looks so decadent and delicious!

Katherine said...

A whole wheat cake with no butter - you are my hero! It's so hard to find whole wheat baked goods that aren't packed with butter or oil or other "crap".

I really appreciate you posting this, I hope you have other healthy recipes like this in the future :)

Angie L said...

Hi Jessie,

This cake looks so good! I'll have to try it because I love to bake.

Check me out: http://angie1129.wordpress.com/

I always make a mess with the flour while baking no matter how hard I try to keep it under control...lol.

-Angie