Microwave Chocolate Cake

I finally made a microwave chocolate cake!

A few of you mentioned in my last post about the nutrition label for the tomato soup.  The plug in that I use gets automatically generated when I enter the ingredients.  However, sometimes it’s not that accurate, like yesterday’s recipe.  The nutrition based on Oprah’s cookbook for the tomato soup is 173 calories, or 4 smart points for two cups.  Whenever I post a recipe, I always put it in the WW recipe builder to get the actual points based on the exact ingredients that I use.  So just take the nutrition label as a bench mark, but trust my smart points – I am a blue dot seeker and want to get the most food for my points!

I don’t know what it was about my meal plan this week, but I wanted nothing to do with it.  Guess what I had a taste for?  Cereal!

Kashi cinnamon squares (6) with 1/3 cup skim milk (2) and blackberries.  I actually love when the squares get soggy.  It was quick and easy to eat at my desk because I hit the ground running. 

I was pissed because I normally weigh in before work (in my Weight Watcher uniform, i.e. the same clothes every week) but I took a nap on my train ride home the night before last and set my alarm for 6:20 PM so I wouldn’t miss my stop.  When I set my alarm the night before last, I had already taken my contacts out, but saw 6:20 and set it.  Thankfully I woke up at 6:50, but the train I wanted to take left at 7.  Rats.  I knew it was going to be a busy day, so I wasn’t sure I’d make the WW meeting at lunch. 

However, I got everything done I needed to, and high tailed it to the meeting and was only 5 minutes late.  I will say that my sister and I do a majority of the talking – not sure if it’s because people are new, or we just talk to much!   One woman talked about how she does great during the week, but tracking goes by the way side come the weekend.  Been there sista!  It’s taken me all this time to figure out that I couldn’t do that anymore, and finally the scale is moving in the right direction.  That, and ditching my beloved wine

So in my regular work clothes, having eaten breakfast, coffee and water, I was up .6.

At home I was down –.2 – either way it was a maintenance week – which I expected having a loss of 3.6 last week and it’s that time of month (for the record, I get my period the day after Hannah gets hers and she always texts me saying #sorry!).   I cropped it so you didn’t see my awful feet (pedicure hopefully this weekend!) and my unshaven legs.  You’re welcome!  And yes, my scale has my name on it – all three of us use the same scale.  I bought it last year with a gift card at Bed Bath & Beyond.  It syncs with your iPhone, and since I added my phone number to it, after I stepped on the scale yesterday morning, the scale sent me a text saying “you are at a new low!” 

At the meeting I was telling everyone about this microwave cake that I made.  I think this is one of those recipes that has been around the WW circles for a while, but depending on what plan was going on at the time (Points Plus, etc.) the points varied a lot.  My Instagram friend Kelly (check out her blog here!)  posted a recipe for a microwave chocolate cake.  Huh.  Now, I normally don’t have a sweet tooth – I can literally walk by chocolate chip cookies no problem, but if it’s a bag of Kettle potato chips, I’ll knock you down for those. 

But Tuesday night I found myself with six points left for the day, so I thought I’d give it a try.  Regardless of what the nutritional label says, it’s 5 smart points for the cake alone, and then add any extra points for your toppings.  I chose banana and a teaspoon of sugar free caramel sauce for 1 extra point.  You could do strawberries and whip cream, blackberries and powdered sugar – the possibilities are endless!

Continue to Content

Microwave Chocolate Cake

Yield: 1

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 minute

Total Time: 6 minutes

I've been trying for the longest time to make a good chocolate cake in the microwave for nights when I want something a bit sweet. The cake itself isn't too sweet, because I normally drizzle with sugar free chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, or add a raspberry or strawberry sauce on top.

Print

Ingredients

• 2 T powdered peanut butter (I used PB2)
• 1 T cocoa powder
• 1 T flour
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 2 T unsweetened almond milk

Instructions

Mix together to make a batter. I used a 4 inch ramekin and sprayed it with Pam. Microwave at 70% power for 40 seconds. At this point, my “cake” was still a bit soupy, so I added 20 seconds at 50% power. Let cool slightly. Top with anything! Just remember to add the extra points.

Notes

PB2 is powdered peanut butter - you can use any brand of peanut butter though!

On #wwteampurple and #teamblue this is 2 points, on #wwteamgreen it's 4 points.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 214Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 187mgSodium: 587mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 2gSugar: 11gProtein: 15g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

The verdict?!  I loved it.  It’s not overly sweet, and the banana and caramel sauce balanced out the cake.  I can definitely see myself making this at least once a week.  Who knew you could make chocolate cake in 60 seconds?!

I passed around my phone so everyone could see how delicious this was, and then used the board to write down my email address if anyone wanted the recipe.  I had to laugh that my sister took a picture and sent it to our brother and said this:

Our leader Cheryl is amazing – and I wasn’t taking over the meeting.  Well, maybe for a minute!

I got back to my office and again, so busy.  I ate my tomato soup at my desk – I didn’t have any more tortellini cooked, but Hannah had leftover cooked pasta, so I added 1/2 a cup to my soup – lunch came in at 6 points.

I worked a bit late and didn’t get home until nearly 7:15.  I picked off some more meat off my Sam’s Club rotisserie chicken ($4.98 – can’t beat that price) and made chicken and red cabbage tacos with pineapple mango salsa.  6 points for this whole plate.  Because someone (me!) ate popcorn on the train ride home for 5 smart points.

I have TODAY OFF!   Long time readers will remember that a year ago this time I took the day off from my day job to be a culinary judge for the semi-finals for Illinois high schools culinary arts program.   It was at that time that I realized I’d been working at a job I had no passion for, and it was the beginning what I like to call “the year of Biz!”  Really I was still trying to find my way in the world.   Figuring out my new “normal” without being a caretaker and wife anymore.  I know if Tony were still here he would have talked me out of quitting my job, would have told me that it was stupid to use my own car last summer for the farmers market I worked and all the driving I did.  You get the idea.  But that’s kind of how I am – I just do things and worry about the consequences later.

I don’t regret a single thing I did last year.  If I hadn’t given it a shot in the culinary world, I would have regretted it.  I obviously know now that I couldn’t continue to make a living wage without a spouse to support me, but I love that I still have my foot in the door at The Chopping Block, even if I only work on the weekends.  I love that I am a Weight Watcher Ambassador, a Jennie-O Ambassador, on the Cabot Cheese Board – it’s a great balance from my day job (which I actually enjoy now because I am very productive!)  And who knows where that will take me someday?

Which takes me to today – I am going to be a Culinary Judge again at Kendall College today for the high school semi-finals.   Be sure to check me out in my chef jacket on Instagram later today.

If you missed yesterday’s post, I am giving away Oprah’s new cookbook!  Just leave a comment and I’ll pick a winner on Monday.  Hope you all have an amazing weekend!  Hugs!

Let me know if you make this microwave chocolate cake!