For Chocolate Lovers!

So how was everyones valentines day?  I just got home from an amazing valentines day weekend and decided to update this blog and share with you guys a recipe for a great chocolate dessert that I found at eatingwell.com. If you want to eat healthy but think you cant still indulge in some chocolate then you are wrong. This is a great chocolaty dessert that is less than 300 calories. Amazing right? Anyways here is the recipe. 

You will need:

4 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped (can use dark chocolate if you would like)

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1 tablespoon of granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of light corn syrup

1 1/2 tablespoons of light cream

1 egg

1 teaspoons of instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water (divided)

2 tablespoons of canola oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

A pinch of salt

5 tablespoons of powdered sugar

4 tablespoons of flour

1 tablespoon of unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

2 teaspoons of very hot water

1 Mini muffin pan

1. Okay so first preheat your oven to 350, position your rack in the center of the over, and coat the mini muffin pan with cooking spray. 
   
2. Put the chocolate and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir well and then continue microwaving on Medium stirring every seconds until the chocolate melts completely.
   
3. For the filling: Stir together the granulated sugar, cream and half the espresso mix in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high just to steaming for 20 to 40 seconds. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add corn syrup and half the melted chocolate (save the other half for the batter) and stir until completely smooth. Cover and put in the freezer until cold and firm (about 30 mins).
4. For the batter: When the filling has been chilling for bout 20 mins, whisk the egg, oil, vanilla extract, salt and the remaining espresso mix in a medium bowl until very smooth. Return the remaining chocolate mix to the microwave. Microwave on Medium, stirring every 20 seconds until just warm again (be sure not to overheat). In two batches, whisk the egg mix into the warm chocolate until well blended. Sift the powdered sugar, flour, and cocoa over the batter and whisk in just until smoothly mixed. 
5. Spoon half of the batter into the mini muffin cups, about 1 rounded teaspoon per cup. Remove he filling from the freezer and spoon 1/2 teaspoon of filling onto the center of each (save the rest for the sauce). Divide the remaining batter evenly among the muffin cups, about 1 rounded teaspoon per cake. Smooth out the batter to cover the filling.
6. Bake the cakes on the middle rack until the edges look dry and puffed but the centers still look very underdone and pudding-like (about 6 to 9 mins). Let cool on a cooling rack until firm (about 2 mins). Place a cutting board on top of the pan and invert the mini cakes out onto it. If the cakes are stuck to the pan, funa  knife around and under them to loosen.
7. For the Sauce: Throughly stir the very hot water into the reserved filling,  1 teaspoon at a time, until very smooth and slightly fluid. Serve 2 warm cakes per person drizzled with the sauce. 

These chocolate cakes are only 244 calories per serving (serving= 2 mini cakes) and 17 grams of fat!

Tip: Try serving the cakes with a scoop of low-fat coffee or vanilla ice cream and/or garnish which a chocolate-covered espresso bean for something extra. Or try topping them with powdered sugar, light whipped cream and/or some fresh berries such as raspberries or strawberries!

*Got the picture from here