Slimmed Down Black Forest Cake Recipe to Celebrate National Black Forest Cake Day
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It’s National Black Forest Cake Day! You read that right- there is actually a cake holiday. Aren’t you glad I didn’t let you miss this one?! Have you been telling yourself you can’t have cake? If so, why? Is it a food you feel like once you start eating you can’t stop? Or do you just feel guilty after eating a food that you don’t deem as the healthiest option? Here’s the thing- food should be fun. It should be enjoyable to eat and you shouldn’t feel guilt about eating a dessert, or anything for that matter. Sure you shouldn’t eat cake with every meal (or as an entire meal), but you also shouldn’t avoid it.
Do you know what I have found to be the BIGGEST reason that someone fails to lose weight and keep it off? It’s that they don’t eat cake. Seriously! The people who refuse to ever treat themselves, that think they must force themselves to be deprived of all of their favorite foods, those are the people that will never be successful at long term weight management. Why? Because losing weight and keeping it off requires you to make healthy lifestyle changes. If you go ‘on a diet’ you probably have the intention of going ‘off the diet’ at a certain point as well. And what happens when you ‘go off’? You probably go right back to the same old habits that caused you to gain weight in the first place. Sound familiar? What’s the point in starving yourself and depriving yourself to reach your goal weight if you can’t maintain it? Is your ultimate goal really to say ‘I was healthier for a hot minute and then I gained all the weight back’ or is it to slowly work towards your goal over time knowing that when you do achieve your health goals, whatever they may be, that you will actually maintain them? I hope it’s the latter choice. And if it is (and it should be!) depriving yourself of a food you love is not the answer.
So today put an end to the deprivation cycle and spread the word- ‘LET THEM EAT CAKE!” Before you restrict your food choices or make a change to your meal plan, ask yourself is this a change I can maintain for life? To me a choice to add a vegetable to my lunch every day is a lifestyle change that is realistic and something I can actually do for life. A choice to never have a slice of cake again- heck no! What a sad life that would be, right?! So go celebrate National Black Forest Cake Day with this spin on the original recipe that keeps all the same great flavor, but cuts down on the added sugars and unhealthy fats.
Slimmed Down Black Forest Cake
Equipment
- A couple of mixing bowls
- Baking pan
- Hand mixer
Ingredients
For Cake:
- 1 15.25-ounce box Devils Food Cake Mix
- 1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 10 each dark chocolate cordial cherries
For Frosting:
- 1 13.5-ounce can coconut cream refrigerated overnight
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine cake mix, yogurt, water and coconut oil. Blend until smooth.
- In a prepared 9×13-baking pan, pour cake mix. Gently push cordial cherries about 1/2-inch from each other into cake mixture. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Let cake cool completely.
- While the cake is cooling, make coconut whipped cream. In a mixing bowl, add refrigerated coconut cream (just the cream, not the liquid left at the bottom of the can). Using a hand mixer beat coconut cream on high for 1 minute. Add powdered sugar and beat for another 4 minutes. Refrigerate whipped cream until cake has completely cooled. Spread coconut whip evenly on top of cake. Use chocolate shavings for garnish and enjoy!