January 27, 2012

Chocolate Pudding Cake

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Today is a very special day. Not only is it Friday, not only is it National Chocolate Cake Day, but today my mother came home from the hospital. She had knee replacement surgery on Tuesday. She's doing really well, well enough that the doctor saw fit to discharge her today. What better way to celebrate than with chocolate cake?

I chose a chocolate pudding cake from the Good Housekeeping: Bake It cookbook. It turned out to be super easy and super chocolate-y. It wasn't really my favorite, but my mother loved it, and that's all that matters. I healthified it a bit, because she prefers it that way. I also realized as I was making it that it would be super simple to make this a gluten-free recipe. Yay!

Our cast of characters today consists of Bisquick (I use the HeartSmart variety), or any comparable baking mix, sugar (I used Splenda), vanilla, water, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and buttermilk. For a gluten free cake, just use Gluten Free Bisquick (or comparable gluten free mix) and gluten free or imitation vanilla extract.
 Set the water on the stove to boil.
In one bowl, combine baking mix, sugar, and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder. In another bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup cocoa powder and brown sugar.
Melt the butter, mix with buttermilk and vanilla extract, and add to the baking mix mixture. Mix together to form the batter. Pour into an ungreased 8x8" pan and sprinkle the brown sugar on top. Pour the boiling water evenly over the mix in the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, and serve warm.
This really kind of needs something to off-set the chocolate, so you want to serve it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I also drizzled it with raspberry syrup. Just cause. It's certainly not the prettiest thing I've ever made, but it's ooey gooey and chocolate-y. I think it might be sweet in a couple of ramekins, too, instead of in the 8x8" pan, you'd just have to decrease the bake time.

Chocolate Pudding Cake {Printable Version}
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 ¾ cup water
1 cup all-purpose baking mix (Bisquick)*
1/3 cup granulated sugar (or Splenda)
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup buttermilk
4 tbsp. butter
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract*
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (optional)
Raspberry syrup (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°. In a tea kettle or small saucepan, heat water to boiling. In a medium bowl, combine baking mix, granulated sugar, and ½ cup of cocoa powder. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar and remaining ¼ cup cocoa powder. Melt the butter and combine with milk and vanilla extract. Mix the butter mixture with the baking mix mixture and pour into an ungreased 8x8” baking pan. Sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar mixture and pour the boiling water evenly over the mixture in the baking dish. Bake 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes and serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and drizzle with raspberry syrup, if desired.

*For a gluten-free cake, use Gluten Free Bisquick and either gluten-free vanilla extract or imitation vanilla extract

Recipe adapted from Good Housekeeping: Bake It