LITE BLACK FOREST CAKE

I recently shared a Black Forest Dump Cake that Friend Janice made for the Farkle group last month. Today I am sharing a "lite" version of a Black Forest Cake. According to Better Homes and Gardens Favorite Desserts Made Lighter it has 55% fewer calories, 40% less fat, 95% less cholesterol, and 65% less sodium. I didn't have enough oil called for and substituted unsweetened applesauce so my version will have even less fat.

We hosted the Tasty Bunch last Saturday and I thought I would make the Coconut Cake I made a few weeks ago and took to Hillcrest Thrift Shop. My husband really liked it and only got two servings. He said it is either the best or second best Coconut Cake he has ever eaten. He would need to go back to Virginia and taste the other one he really liked to see which one he would rate #1. He suggested I ask to make sure everyone in the group who were coming liked coconut. Everyone loves coconut except one. When I told my husband, he said he still wanted me to make the coconut cake and make something else for Gary. That's why I also made this Black Forest Cake. (I ended up with more of the coconut cake than I had planned because everyone wanted a little piece of each. Oh. Gary? He loved his special cake. And so did everyone else.)

LITE BLACK FOREST CAKE

1-1/4       cups flour
2/3         cups sugar
1/4          cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2          teaspoon baking soda
1              cup water
1/3          cup oil or unsweetened applesauce (I used the latter.)
1               tablespoon white vinegar
1               teaspoon vanilla
2              egg whites
1-1/2        cups reduced-fat frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed (I use sugar-free topping instead)
1               cup reduced-calorie cherry pie filling (I used almost the whole can - even to give the whole top solid cherries.)

Preheat oven to 350 degree F oven. Spray a 9 x 1-1/2" round baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda with a whisk.

Add water, oil or applesauce, vinegar, and vanilla.

Stir till thoroughly combined.

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed till stiff peaks form

and tips remain straight.

Fold into batter.

This will take a bit to make sure all of the egg whites are mixed up. You will see the air bubbles from the whites when you are finished.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. (I was a little concerned because it almost filled the cake pan to the top, but it worked out fine.)

Bake  for about 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool thoroughly on wire rack.(Forgot to take another picture.)

Place cake on serving plate to frost. Spread whipped topping over top and sides or cooled cake.

Top with pie filling. (I poured pie filling in a bowl to stir it up before I started dropping two or three cherries at a time on top to make a solid covering.)

Makes 8 servings.