Recipe: Peanut Butter Cake with Food Processor Chocolate Frosting (13x9, low fat)

PEANUT BUTTER CAKE WITH FOOD PROCESSOR CHOCOLATE FROSTING

When my friend Peter recently had a birthday, I created a peanut butter cake using reduced-fat peanut butter and frosted it with low-fat chocolate frosting. It had less than 3 grams of fat per serving, and Peter said it was his best birthday cake ever.

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups sifted cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
3/4 cup skim milk
Food Processor Chocolate Frosting (optional, recipe follows)

Place a strainer over a bowl deep enough so the bottom of the strainer doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Put the applesauce in the strainer and set aside to drain for 15 minutes; you should have 1/3 cup drained applesauce.

Place the oven rack in the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan with a vegetable-oil-and-flour-spray, such as Baker's Joy.

Whisk together the sifted cake flour and baking powder in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes, or until light. S

crape down the sides of the bowl, add the drained applesauce and mix on medium-high for 2 minutes, or until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the brown sugar for 3 minutes, or until creamy. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 25 seconds each. Beat in the egg white for 25 seconds. Beat in the milk until incorporated, about 20 seconds.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low until moistened, about 15 seconds.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and stir the batter a few times. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the center of the cake springs back when pressed. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into a 2-inch squares and serve.

If desired, when the cake is completely cooled, frost it with Food Processor Chocolate Frosting.

Makes 24 servings

Peanut butter cake nutritional information per serving (unfrosted): 94 calories (22% from fat), 2.3 g fat (0.5 g saturated fat), 3 g protein, 31.6 g carbohydrates, 9 mg cholesterol, 125 mg sodium.

FOOD PROCESSOR CHOCOLATE FROSTING

2 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, divided use
6 tablespoons low-fat margarine (2 fat grams per tablespoon)
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (such as Hershey's European-style or Droste)*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 to 3 teaspoons skim milk

Place half of the sifted sugar, the margarine, cocoa powder and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade in place. Process, pulsing, for 5 to 7 seconds, or until the sugar dissolves. Add the remaining sugar and 2 teaspoons of the milk and process, pulsing, for 5 to 7 seconds, or until smooth. If the frosting is too thick, add 1 more teaspoon of milk and process until combined. Spread the frosting on the cake.

Food processor chocolate frosting nutritional information per tablespoon: 66 calories (9% from fat), 0.7 g fat (trace of saturated fat), 0.3 g protein, 15.7 g carbohydrate, trace of cholesterol, 27 mg sodium.

*If you can't find Dutch-process cocoa powder, substitute an equal amount of regular cocoa powder

Makes 1 (13x9-inch) cake
Source: A Guy's Guide to Great Eating by Don Mauer