Little Chocolate Spice Cakes with Strawberries and Warm Chocolate Sauce
Prep: 30 min, Cook: 20 min.
- 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 3 Tbs. unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sifted flour
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. ginger
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp. cloves
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
- 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2-1/2 cups sliced Driscoll's strawberries
- 8 whole small Driscoll's strawberries, or halves
Preheat oven to 375°F. You need a teflon muffin pan with cups 3 inch in diameter (or butter and flour non-teflon cups).
Melt chocolate and butter together over hot, but not boiling water. Turn off heat and stir until smooth. Allow to cool while proceeding with recipe.
Mix the sifted flour thoroughly with the spices and salt. Set aside while you prepare the egg white meringue.
Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Continuing to whip, gradually add the sugar. Continue whipping, over high speed, another minute. The whites will be stiff and glossy. Sprinkle the flour-spice mixture over the stiff whites a little at a time and slowly mix in to just combine. Stir in the chocolate butter mixture to combine.
Fill each muffin cup by 1/2 and bake in the pre-heated oven 14-15 minutes. The tops will be flat and shiny and the cakes just set. Allow to cool 5 minutes in the pan before removing. Cool thoroughly and wrap to keep moist until ready to use later that day or the next day. (The cakes also freeze well)
Prepare chocolate sauce: Heat the milk with the sugar, vanilla and espresso powder in a small saucepan until just hot. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate to melt. Stir until very smooth. Set aside or can be refrigerated one week and re-heated when desired.
To serve: Whip cream till soft but distinct peaks form. Refrigerate up to one hour. Use immediately or if chocolate sauce is cold, gently heat until warm.
Split each cake horizontally and put the bottom of each on individual plates. Spoon a small dollop of whipped cream on each bottom and cover that with a small spoonful of sliced strawberries. Place the cake top on the strawberries. Spoon the warm chocolate sauce over the top of the cake and around the late. Scatter the remaining sliced berries around the cake. Place a small dollop of whipped cream on top of each cake and finish with a whole small berry. Serve immediately.
This recipe serves 6 people. Due to the nature of this recipe, it adjusts the number of servings in multiples of 6 only.
Per serving: calories 368, fat 18.8g, 43% calories from fat, cholesterol 31mg, protein 4.3g, carbohydrates 51.2g, fiber 4.4g, sugar 42.6g, sodium 65mg, diet points 8.6.
Dietary Exchanges: Milk: 0.1, Vegetable: 0.0, Fruit: 0.5, Bread: 0.2, Lean meat: 0.0, Fat: 3.1, Sugar: 2.4, Very lean meat protein: 0.2
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