Snacking at Our House: Yummy Chocolate Cake

When I saw this in Taste of Home magazine I knew it would be delicious. I couldn't wait to try it. Chocolate is my great weakness, but this recipe is light, or at least lighter. When all is said in done one serving is only 4 WW points. Not too shabby.

I wish I could say the process was fun, but it got a little hectic in the kitchen. Problem #1 was the fact we had no cooking spray. I didn't want to try and grease the pan the old fashion way so I thought..hey! I'll make cupcakes instead of the cake. That way I'll also have exactly 16 servings. Sweet precious Tim tried helping me out so I could eat my cooling microwave dinner...and that became Problem #2. Tim did a decent job helping scoop batter into the cups, he just didn't attempt to level the cups. Because there is pudding in the batter, they kind of help some funky shapes and cooked all funny in the oven. Needless to say, I may have flipped out on him a little....ha!

Anyhow, this is the finished product:

Yummy chocolate cupcake.

The icing wasn't as great the first night, but the second night (after being in the fridge almost 24 hours) the icing is much better.

Ingredients

• 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) chocolate cake mix
• 1 package (2.1 ounces) sugar-free instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1-3/4 cups water
• 3 egg whites
• 
  FROSTING:
• 1-1/4 cups cold fat-free milk
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 package (1.4 ounces) sugar-free instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed
• Chocolate curls, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, water and egg whites. Beat on low speed for 1 minute; beat on medium for 2 minutes.
• Pour into a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
• For frosting, place milk and extract in a large bowl. Sprinkle with a third of the pudding mix; let stand for 1 minute. Whisk pudding into milk. Repeat twice with remaining pudding mix. Whisk pudding 2 minutes longer. Let stand for 15 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Frost cake. Garnish with chocolate curls if desired. Yield: 16 servings.