Devin’s Food Layer Cake & Whipped Topping

By jimihndrks-2

Ingredients

• CAKE:
• Butter-flavored cooking spray
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1-3/4 cups whole-grain oat flour
• 1-1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 large egg whites
• 1-1/2 cups agave nectar
• 1/2 cup fat-free, fruit juice-sweetened vanilla yogurt (I used Cascade Fresh)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 recipe “Cut the Crap Whipped Topping” (recipe below)
• CUT THE CRAP WHIPPED TOPPING
• 3/4 cup light agave nectar
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Details

Adapted from biggestloserclub.com

Preparation

Step 1

CAKE:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 2 9-inch round cake pans with spray (just enough spray for parchment to stick) then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Then lightly mist the parchment with spray.

Add the milk and vinegar to a small bowl. Stir them to combine. Set aside.

Place a sifter over a medium mixing bowl. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, using a sturdy whisk or spatula, mix together the egg whites, agave, yogurt, oil, vanilla and milk mixture until well combined. Mix in the dry ingredients until no lumps remain (do not overmix). Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Bake them side by side (not one on top of the other) for 30-33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry (a few crumbs are ok). Remove the cakes to a cooling rack and let cool 10 minutes. Gently flip the cakes out of the pans and onto the cooling rack. Let the cakes cool completely.

Place one cake, flat side down, on a platter. Spread 1 cup of the whipped topping over the cake. Top it with the second cake, flat side down. Spread the remaining topping evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Slice the cake into 16 equal wedges, cleaning your knife between each slice. Serve immediately or store it in a large re-sealable cake carrier in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.

Makes 16 servings. Each (1 slice) serving has: 232 calories, 6 g protein, 46 g carbohydrates (34 g sugar), 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 g fiber, 287 mg sodium

CUT THE CRAP WHIPPED TOPPING:
Devin’s Note: It’s important to use this topping within about 1 day or to freeze any excess. After a day in the refrigerator, it begins to separate. In the freezer, it will stay as made for weeks and never gets hard so it’s great for topping anything, as the cravings hit.

Though you may be tempted to use a double boiler for this recipe, unless you have a very large double boiler insert, I would highly recommend using a saucepan and a large metal or heavy-duty glass mixing bowl that sits on top the pan (and isn’t too much larger than the pan). For maximum results, you need a large bowl so that a lot of air whips into the egg whites, creating volume. I’ve found that most double boiler inserts aren’t quite big enough to allow that.

Please note that every time I have made this, it yields a different amount of whipped topping, ranging from as few as 6 cups to as many as 8-1/2 cups. I’ve noticed that even slight variations in the size of the egg whites, temperature of the egg whites, the type of beaters you use, the size of the bowl, etc. make a difference. I’ve calculated the nutritional information based on the recipe making only 6 cups to give you a good sense of what you’re consuming, “worst case scenario”. I f it makes more, as it likely will, it has even fewer calories per tablespoon.

Add water to a medium saucepan until it is about ¼ full. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.

Off the heat, combine the agave, egg whites, and cream of tartar in a large metal or heavy duty glass mixing bowl (that will fit onto the top of your saucepan). Beat on medium-high with an electric mixer fitted with beaters until well blended. Place the bowl over the pot of boiling water. (For safety, be sure to wear an oven mitt while holding the bowl over the heat, as it will get very hot). Beat for about 7 minutes, occasionally running the beaters around the sides of the bowl to scrape any of the mixture, until stiff peaks form. Remove the bowl from the water and continue beating for 5-7 minutes more, rotating the bowl and scraping down the sides with the beaters as you do, or until the mixture is thick, very fluffy, and has very stiff peaks.

Makes about 6 cups. Each (1 tablespoon) serving has: 8 calories, trace protein, 2 g carbohydrates (2 g sugar), 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 g fiber, 2 mg sodium