My favorite Chocolate Cake recipe is actually from the "Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor" Cookbook. An absolute favorite cookbook of mine that has kept me company since my kids were small. With 3 kids in the house a quick easy way to make an amazing cake was a good trick up Mom's sleeve. I've even produced a cake within an hour with the help of this book and my kitchen aid after my oldest walked in the door from school and announced she needed a cake for a fundraiser- in an hour. Boy, I felt like I won the "Mommy" award when she walked out with a full cake!
So here's my secret to my most moist cake with lots of healthy things snuck into it. I won't pretend it's healthy- but every ingredient that is better for you than an unhealthy one is a good thing.
For this recipe I use Oil- usually Canola. Lots of eggs (protein!) and yogurt!
A Lighter Chocolate Pound Cake
Preheat oven 350 degrees (now my ovens have always run on the hot side, if this is true for you set it to 325 degrees).
First using a butter wrapper or wax paper butter a 12 cup Bundt Pan and flour this lightly, knock off the excess in the sink by rapping the side.
INGREDIENTS-
1 pkg. Plain Devil's Food Mix 18.25oz. (no pudding in it)
1 small pkg. (3.9 oz.) Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix (not the cooked type)
opt- 1/4 flour (for High Altitude and to make up for the cake mixes getting smaller- see note below)
1 cp yogurt (the original recipe is 1 vanilla yogurt, but I like less sugar)
1/2 water
1/2 Veg. Oil (Canola is the healthiest to bake with)
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
I place all the wet together first in a bowl and mix with a whisk, starting with the eggs and adding the water, then oil and then yogurt.
Then I dump the cake mix on top and add the pudding mix on top of that. To avoid lumps I mix the pudding mix into the cake mix below it with a fork just a bit. Then add flour and mix also with a fork into the dry. Now all of this could be done in a separate bowl- but I like to cheat and just dump the dry in and lightly mix it in while it sits on top of the wet.
When the dry is mixed a bit up top- use a large spoon to roughly mix it all together so dry ingredients doesn't fly into your face later.
Use your mixer and beat for 3 minutes (if at High Altitude beat 4 minutes)
Why the additional Flour? We're so high up here in Colorado our baking has to be adjusted because things rise too fast. Add 1/4 cup flour to your mix and also mix it in with a fork. Now I have to do this to get good results at my altitude, but the cake mixes have over the past decade changed in size, so it is possible even at low altitude you might need to add this 1/4 cup flour to make the mix the same volume as it used to be. This was a suggestion from the author Anne Byrn and since I do not live at low altitude I have no way to test it. I have a feeling adding it would be a good idea though.
Bake for about 50 minutes to an hour. I start testing with a toothpick about 50 mins in and bake until it comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for about 15 mins. and then loosen with a butter knife around the edges. Place a plate over the top and invert and hopefully the cake comes out in tact (when it doesn't frosting comes to the rescue- it covers all imperfections!).
I actually prefer this cake without frosting, but my family likes frosting, so I lost the frosting wars this time. But, I find it a tad too sweet with frosting and it's amazing plain with only a dusting of confectioner sugar or cocoa (sifted gently) on top.
