rich and chocolate-y

Shouldn't all things be rich & chocolate-y?

I love to bake, and one of my favorite cakes, comes from a Nigella Lawson recipe for "Pantry-Shelf Chocolate-Orange Cake," in her How to be a Domestic Goddess book. I've always replaced the orange marmalade with raspberry jam because I LOVE the chocolate-raspberry combo and HATE chocolate and orange together. In any case, this cake is easy, dense, chocolate-y, and delicious. Whenever I make it, someone asks for the recipe.

I decided to try making it over, and the results were quite good. I kept some of the chocolate, added fresh (well, frozen) raspberries to replace some of the jam, halved the butter, and used white wheat flour. The results were still dense and chocolate-y, so this one is definitely a winner.

Chocolate-Raspberry Cake--serves 8 at 6 points plus each

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup unsweetned apple sauce

2 oz semi-sweet chocolate

4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tbsp raspberry jam

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups frozen raspberries, blitzed in the food processor

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup white wheat (or all purpose) flour

pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350, and spray a springform pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan to melt. Once its nearly melted, add in the chocolate. Once its almost completely all liquid, add in the apple sauce, raspberries, jam, cocoa powder, sugar, and (after combined) eggs. Remove from heat and slowly add flour, salt, baking powder, and soda. Pour into springform pan and bake on a center rack for 50 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove edges and turn out onto a plate. Top with powdered sugar. Enjoy!