Opposite Attraction

Remembering important dates has never been my forte. OCT used to tease me that his birthday is sometime between mid November to December because that's when he received his birthday presents and cards. Most of the time, it would be more than one month past the actual date.

After we were married, the situation improved tremendously. But that's probably because I can simply whisper "Happy Birthday Darling" without waiting for the postman to send my "overdue" well wishes across the pacific ocean. But I am still as bad at remembering date as I was. For instance, I didn't manage to send out a package of homemade biscottis in time for my best friend's birthday. Even though I have reminded myself countless time in the beginning of the month, that I must not forget the date (again!!). Thanks to Internet, I got to greet her a "wonderful birthday" before it's too late while the biscottis struggled its way to London.

And on another recent occasion, I forgot about our wedding anniversary until the day itself. Knowing what a sweet husband OCT is, I was almost sure he would have something special for me on this special day. That made me felt terribly guilty. What last minute trick could I pull off to camouflage my forgetfulness?



With time ticking away. there wasn't much time for deliberation. So I took a deep breath and decided to do what I do best. I would bake him a cake, preferably a healthy one too, because he wouldn't want to share his anniversary present with others (trust me, I know my husband!) With that in mind, I got my act together and made one of the low fat cakes I know we won't mind eating over and over again.

It is a recipe from Alice Medrich, from her out of print book- "Chocolate and The Art of Low Fat Desserts". The original recipe makes a beautiful marble cake. But I decided to make a constrasting black and white cake. Of which I think it symbolizes our union. We are two very different individuals whom when put together completed each other. Just like vanilla and chocolate. They just go well together.

Unlike some of the low fat recipes that are cloyingly sweet and suffer from rubbery texture, this cake has a moist texture with soft, fine crumbs. I especially like the chocolate layer, where instant espresso powder is added to the Dutch-processed cocoa powder to enhance its flavor.

A simple yet delicious cake to commemorate our second anniversary. And true enough, OCT kept the cake all to himself!


Black and White Chocolate Cake /Low Fat Chocolate Marbled Cake
Modified and adapted from Alice Medrich's "Chocolate and The Art of Low Fat Desserts"

2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant espresso or coffee powder
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg white
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup nonfat yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the lower third of the oven. Arrange 10 heart shape silicon cupcake molds on a baking tray.

Use a whisk to combine four, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift together. Set aside. In a small bowl combine the espresso powder, cocoa and 1/3 cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup of water. Whisk until smooth. Set aside. In another small bowl, whisk whole egg with egg white. Set aside.

Cut the butter into pieces and place in an electric mixing bowl. Beat for 1 minute to soften. Gradually add remaining 1 cup of sugar and beat at high speed for about 3 minutes. Dribble eggs in slowly, about 1 T at a time, beating constantly for about 2 minutes. On low speed, beat in a third of the flour mixture. On medium-high speed, beat in half of the yogurt. On low speed, beat in half of the remaining flour. On high speed, beat in the rest of the yogurt and the vanilla. On low speed, beat in the remaining flour.

Measure out 1 1/2 cups of yogurt batter and mix into the cocoa mixture. Set aside.

Scoop a heaping tablespoon of vanilla/ chocolate batter into each mold, and fill the molds up to 3/4 full with the rest of the other batter. Bake for 20- 25 minutes or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the molds and a toothpick inserted in comes out clean.

Cool for 10-15 minutes on a rack. Unmold the cake. Cool completely before serving or storing.