Guilt-free German Chocolate Cake that tastes sinfully good!

German Chocolate Cake is classic dessert, with a gooey caramel-y coconut filling and topping that is irresistible. This recipe is made lighter, without losing the flavor or giving up on the coconut filling. It’s really that good!

To be truthful– I’m a hard sell when I see a reduced-calorie recipe for cake. Somehow, “Reduced Fat” and “Cake” translates as an oxymoron to me.  I’ve made low-fat cookies and cakes, and I’ve not been impressed with the results.  I’ve given in to my own philosophy that I’d rather make a cake, in it’s full glory of sugar, butter and frosting– then, eat one piece, and give away the rest! 

Then my newest issue of Cook’s Country Magazine arrived, and I spotted their “Reduced Fat German Chocolate Cake, I felt a glimmer of hope. Is it possible, that my very favorite chocolate cake– with that gooey, caramel coconut and pecan frosting– could taste delicious and have a lot less calories and fat?  Here’s what Cook’s Country (which is owned by Cooks Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen) had to say about this recipe “makeover”:

• Although we usually don’t cut portion size to reduce calorie count, a triple-layer cake was too over-the-top. Two layers provided an ample serving.
• We rejected traditional German’s chocolate (which gave the cake its name), as it tastes more of sugar than anything else, and used a combination of chopped milk chocolate and Dutch-processed cocoa instead.
• For frosting with deep caramel flavor, we relied entirely on brown sugar.
• Fatty egg yolks typically thicken the frosting, but we found cornstarch worked equally well, without so many added calories.
• Traditional recipes have 740 calories, 45 grams of fat, and 23 grams of saturated fat per serving. Our changes brought the numbers down to 340 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 7 grams of saturated fat.

A few facts about German Chocolate cake–   You won’t find this in Germany. Like Chop Suey being an American invented dish–so is German Chocolate Cake!   This German Chocolate cake’s main flavor component is that  milk chocolate is used, rather than dark chocolate.  While I really like my Dark Chocolate cake recipe,  and this Chocolate Sheet Cake,  I am a bigger fan of white chocolate (which isn’t really chocolate) and milk chocolate.

I buy quality dark chocolate (for baking) at Trader Joe’s, because it’s affordable.  I don’t buy milk chocolate, because I’d probably eat it all!  Since I was skeptical about this recipe, I bought milk chocolate chips– this recipes only asks for 3 ounces.  Dutch cocoa gives a little extra chocolate boost.  Hot water is whisked in, to melt it (very easy) and set aside.  Next, the dry ingredients are measured and ready to go.  I did use Light Sour Cream, which makes up for the small amount of butter– a clever way to reduce fat.

To me, the flavor of a cake is in the proof of the batter.  I liked the consistency, and it tasted good.  The chocolate flavor was subtle, which is a good thing for someone who isn’t a big fan of dark chocolate– and I accept that I’m probably in the minority.

The batter didn’t fill my 9-inch pans as much as usual. I thought to myself that this must  be how additional calories are reduced– fine with me!   The recipe said to bake for 10-15 minutes at 350F.  I set my timer for 10 minutes, and the middle kinda jiggled– so I gave it two more minutes. The toothpick came out clean, so I cooled the cakes.  If you’re scratching your head at how short the baking time is, I did too!  Yes, this cake bakes really fast!

I hesitated at using fat-free evaporated milk.  I rarely use evaporated milk, anyway.  I stuck to the recipe for the icing– which included corn starch, finely chopped pecans and coconut (not pictured, 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter and brown sugar).  Here’s an interesting note that the Test Kitchen posted:

When we started this assignment, we ran to the health food store to pick up unsweetened coconut. Unsweetened has fewer calories than the sweet stuff ordinarily used in German chocolate cake, right? Wrong. Ounce for ounce, sweetened coconut has fewer calories and less fat! How can that be? Sweetened coconut contains more water, which means fewer calories per cup of coconut. We used the sweetened coconut in our cake after all.

The pecans and coconut are ready to be toasted at 325F for about 15 minutes.

I did shake the tray a few minutes into the toasting– and then got distracted. At 12 minutes I could smell the pecans!

Had I waited a minute longer– they would have been burned.  So, heed my warning– stick closeby and check these way before 15 minutes!

The icing was super easy to make.  Step #1, heat the evaporated milk, 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, brown sugar and some salt on medium high heat.  The cornstarch is added, and whisked (vigorously).  Keep whisking, and it does thicken– about 3 minutes later.

Off heat, the vanilla is added and then the toasted coconut and pecans– one tablespoon of the coconut-pecans are reserved for later on.

The icing needs to cool to room temperature.  The taste was reassuringly good!

Finished! Or, so I thought– after I cut the first slice…  I had a dilemma: Craig and I were headed to a friend’s house as dinner guests. This would be my dessert contribution.  I had to slice the cake, since I was running out of daylight and I wanted to photograph it in the privacy of my kitchen.  I figured that they would understand, since they know that I’m a food blogger.

  I had really high hopes– the cake felt moist… but, would it deliver flavor?

TASTING NOTES:  The cake was very moist, which is very important to me.  The cake was subtle in sweetness– which is a good thing if you don’t like super sweet desserts. If you want a sugar rush, this cake might not give you the sweet tooth fix you want.  The chocolate was also subtle, but just right.
EVERYONE ELSE’S VERDICT:   They loved it!  I left the majority of the cake with our guests– but Craig wanted two slices to come back home.  That pretty much sums up, that this cake is worthy of a repeat performance.

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Guilt Free German Chocolate Cake

Cook’s Country Magazine featured a Reduced-Fat German Chocolate Cake. I decided to give this recipe a try because I was impressed with the calorie and fat reduction: Traditional: This version:  I was pleased that the cake turned out very moist! Overall the cake was very easy to make, as was the frosting. I’d make this recipe again!

Traditional recipes have 740 calories, 45 grams of fat, and 23 grams of saturated fat per serving. This recipe brought the numbers down to 340 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 7 grams of saturated fat.

Prep Time2 hours hrs

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12

Calories: 351kcal

Author: Debby – www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

• 3 ounces milk chocolate chopped
• 3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream room temperature

FOR THE FROSTING:

• 1 cup fat-free evaporated milk
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup pecans toasted (see note) and chopped fine
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut toasted (see note)

Instructions

MAKE BATTER Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

• Whisk chocolate, cocoa, and boiling water in bowl until smooth; let cool.
• Combine flour and baking soda in separate bowl. With electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat butter, sugars, and salt until combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until mixture -lightens in color and sticks to sides of bowl, about 1 minute.
• Scrape down bowl, then add eggs, 1 at a time, and mix until well combined, about 45 seconds.
• Reduce speed to low and add chocolate mixture and vanilla until incorporated. Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with 2 additions of sour cream, and mix until just combined.
• BAKE CAKE Divide batter into prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Cool cakes in pans 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely, at least 1 hour. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for 2 days.)

MAKE FROSTING Whisk evaporated milk, cornstarch, butter, brown sugar, and salt in saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbling, about 3 minutes.

• Continue to cook until mixture is thickened, about 1 minute.
• Off heat, stir in vanilla and all but 1 tablespoon each of pecans and coconut. Cool to room temperature. ASSEMBLE CAKE Place 1 cake round on serving platter. Spread with half of frosting, then top with second cake. Spread remaining frosting over top of cake. Sprinkle with remaining pecans and coconut. Serve.

Notes

Avoid fat-free sour cream, which will make the cake gummy. Toast the coconut and nuts in a 325-degree oven, shaking the pan often, for about 15 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 351kcal

Tried this recipe?Mention @afeastfortheeyes or tag #afeastfortheeyesblog!

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