Chocolate Cherry Pudding Cake

I saw this recipe for chocolate cherry pudding cake in 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian recipes long time back. I decided to bake this on Father’s Day with my son. He loves to help me while baking. He is my cute little sous chef.

This chocolate pudding cake recipe is originally low in fat (oil free and butter free). If it had been any other day I would have substituted the all purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour and made it vegan by using soy milk instead of dairy milk. I didn’t do either because I was (or we were) baking it for my husband and didn’t want to mess it up. He doesn’t like soy milk sometimes and I really can’t predict it when! Also it was suggested that the cake had to be served warm and from my prior experiences with whole wheat flour I know that it does not taste good immediately after baking. So I went with all purpose flour. Even after putting so much thought into this cake it sort of flopped but continue to read further to know how I gave it a tasty makeover. Yes, yes I know what you all are thinking, showing off my (kitchen) disaster management skills!

Chocolate Cherry Pudding Cake Recipe
Print
Prep time: 15 Mins
Cook time: 40 Mins
Yields: 12-16 Servings
Simple recipe for baking a low fat chocolate pudding cake.
Ingredients:
  • 1 and 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 cup Sugar (1 and 1/4 cup in the original recipe)
  • 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  • 3 tablespoons Baking Powder
  • 1/4 cup Fat Free Milk
  • 1/2 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
  • 1 cup Cherries, fresh/frozen, pitted
  • 1/2 cup Nuts, chopped (I used walnuts)
  • 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar (1 and 1/4 cup in the original recipe)
  • 3 cups Hot Water
Procedure:
  1. Preheat oven to 350F for 15 minutes. Grease and flour a 13×9 inch baking pan. Since I used a glass pan, I preheated the oven at 325F.
  2. In a large bowl, combine together the flour, granulated sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa and baking powder.
  3. Stir in milk and applesauce to the dry ingredients until just moistened.
  4. Fold in the cherries and nuts. The cake batter is very thick at this stage.
  5. Spoon into the greased pan.
  6. Mix the brown sugar, hot water and 1/4 cup cocoa in the same large bowl, until smooth; pour over batter.
  7. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set (cake will have a pudding like texture). Serve warm or at room temperature.
Taste:
  1. As the name suggests, this is a chocolate pudding cake. There is pudding in the bottom and cake on top. Frankly the three of us did not like it. The chocolate cake alone was very good, especially for a fat free one it was quite tasty, but we did not like the combination of pudding and a cake. First you bite into a firm cake then follows this ooey gooey pudding. To be more specific, it’s kozha kozha (non Tamilians please excuse me. I had to use this word to be very clear at least for Tamilians.) So if you have already tasted a pudding cake and like it you can go ahead and try this low fat version.
  2. But what did we do with such a big cake, when we didn’t like it? That’s when a light bulb flashed and I put the cake (of course with the pan) in the freezer. I thought that it would taste like an ice cream cake and I was right. Yay! Freeze it for a couple of hours and remove it from the freezer and leave it on the kitchen counter for 15-25 minutes before serving, so that the pudding layer would soften up a little bit making it easy to eat (but not ooey gooey at all). Then cut them into slices and enjoy. Refreeze the rest of the cake.
My Notes:
  1. I reduced the quantity of sugar by 1/2 cup and we felt that the sweetness was just right enough. If you have been following my recipes you know by now that we don’t eat very sweet baked stuff. So if you like it sweeter go with the original recipe by adding another 1/4 of white sugar and 1/4 of dark brown sugar.
  2. While using a glass baking pan it is suggested to reduce the oven temperature by 25F or to bake 5-10 minutes less than the specified time. I have used a glass baking pan and so baked the cake at 325F. If you are using any other pan set the oven at 350F.
  3. While reading the recipe I was not sure if the quantity of baking powder (3 tablespoons) was correct. I proceeded anyhow and was relieved that the cake did not have the after taste of baking powder.
  4. Measure the 3 cups of boiling water in a liquid measuring mug. While pouring it over the cake batter it may look like that it’s a lot, but don’t worry the cake will turn out fine.

This chocolate pudding cake goes to my low-fat baking event and Mansi’s Sugar High Friday.


Share & Enjoy:

Share Save on Delicious

You might also like...

27 Responses to “Chocolate Cherry Pudding Cake”

  1. prathibha says:

    That looks so yummy..Loved the texture n color of the cake….

  2. Priya says:

    Wow cake looks rich eventhough its low fat Madhu…Delicious!

  3. Nags says:

    That cake doesn’t look like it got a makeover from the flop stage :) And each time I see the stuff on your site, I wonder why I ever use eggs in my baking!

    Thanks Nags.

  4. Ramya Kiran says:

    Oh my!! That looks scrumptious! Thank you for such a healthy recipe.

    You’re welcome Ramya.

  5. jayasree says:

    Looks like a brownie. Lovely color.

  6. Soma says:

    Flop? looks no where near it! Looks like a great treat.

  7. DK says:

    :lol: :razz: Kozha kozha.. :mrgreen: that totally did it for me! LOL! I dont like the molten Lava cake either – same reason. Freezing should certainly do it – How I wish I was there to see the little A helping you with his little hands and asking questions!

    You should have seen the reaction in my husband’s face after having a bite! A loves to bake with me. Now it’s become a routine.

  8. Mansi says:

    yummy Madhu!! I love cherries and chocolate! and this looks moist and lovely! thanks so much for baking it for SHF!:)

  9. Pooja says:

    The pudding cake looks lovely! I love to have gooey layer with the cake! It looks perfect!

  10. Vaishali says:

    Chocolate and cherries are such a classic combination. I would love some of that cake, Madhuram.

    Thanks Vaishali.

  11. sai says:

    Madhu,

    wow looks like a cool cake to try!

    can we use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour in all your recipes? I am confused on where to use what? can u suggest? i see u use all purpose in some, whole wheat in some and in some whole wheat pastry.

    Hi Sai, as I have mentioned in the post, we do not like the taste of baked goods immediately after baking if using whole wheat flour. It has a raw smell. We prefer eating it the next day. So it’s your call. The same thing holds good to other recipes too. I personally feel that using whole wheat flour/pastry flour in chocolate/cocoa recipes make it (the raw smell/earthy taste) less noticeable.

  12. jayasri says:

    looks actually good, it looked like a brownie to me…, it even doesn’t look like a make over from a disaster !, you are a great baker ! they look absolutely yum to me !….

  13. Kalai says:

    I am still laughing over the “kozha kozha” comment!! Looks you did an awesome save. The end result looks a lot like a brownie. Yummy!!

    Yes Kalai it did taste like a brownie too.

  14. Sunshinemom says:

    I like that description – kozha kozha:). I have a similar recipe that I haven’t tried wondering how the cake and the pudding will set. Thanks for the review!

    You’re welcome Sunshinemom. It sets well, no problem with that, but it’s the texture we did not like.

  15. Bharti says:

    Nice rescue Madhu. Its such a relief when you can do that..
    I feel so guilty throwing away food.

  16. bindiya says:

    What awesome pics!, I am seriously drooling here!! :lol:

  17. Sumi says:

    Somehow Iam not turning my head towards eggless baking though I wanted to.Its all perception you know:)…These cakes look delicious, May be I will start with this one.

  18. Ashwini says:

    That looks so tempting…The word flop is no where near it. Nice idea…

  19. Divya Vikram says:

    Cherry and chocolate sounds like a delectable combo!!

  20. Cynthia says:

    You are too wicked to post this :razz:

  21. Sue says:

    So does anyone have ideas on substituting a gluten-free AND non-bean flour for the regular flour? this looks great but my duaghter is newly diagnosed with allergies to egg, gluten, and beans. a challenge to say the least – i’m still learning! :smile:

  22. priya says:

    good pic!!!I have tried Indira’s version of choc cherry cake.It was so tasty but not sure if it was a low fat version.

    I think it has ghee in it, but not sure about the quantity.

  23. rati says:

    how can i substitute that apple sauce? can i use condensed milk? thanks.

    Rati you can make applesauce at home. Just peel the apple, cut into cubes. Add little water and cook it in a microwave oven or stove top and grind it into a smooth puree. This should not be very thick or very diluted.
    .

  24. charisma says:

    :sad:
    Hi

    11 i just tried this cake , half the portion , therefore i used only 1n half of the baking powder , sad to say my cake tastes only of baking powder… can i do some damage control?

    the walnuts leave a slight bitter taste too…what do i do with such a big cake!!!!
    help!
    Charisma

    Charisma as I have mentioned many times here before, altering (especially halving) a baking recipe usually does not give perfect results. Its more of a trial and error basis of finding out what works. Sometimes doubling and halving the recipe proportionately works just fine but its not always. Maybe you can try having it with some vanilla ice-cream!

Leave a Reply

Tried This Recipe? Don't Forget To Rate It:

Link to this recipe:

If you have a website and would like to link to this recipe, simply copy (Ctrl + C) and paste the code below. It will look like this: Chocolate Cherry Pudding Cake