Biggest Loser Chocolate Cupcakes for My Birthday

It was my birthday recently, and as it seemed a bit sad not to have a cake, I made my own chocolate cupcakes, pictured above.

To make these cupcakes, I took the Biggest Loser Chocolate Fudge Cake and made it into 12 cupcakes and one mini heart cake, then iced them with plain old water icing (icing sugar, cocoa, water).  I think they look pretty.

While the cake is obviously not as sumptuous as a normal chocolate cake, at only 98 calories per serving (12 serves per recipe), it is a very good alternative.  I didn't find the cake dry this time - perhaps I slightly overbaked it last time.  However, don't expect moist, mud-like cake - it is more like a pound cake in consistency.

I topped the cupcakes with Lindt chocolates:

Aren't the cupcake papers gorgeous - I bought them in San Francisco last year when I was shopping at Sur La Table with Patty:

 

It was a fun way to celebrate "my" day.

FFWD - Dieter's Tartine

Welcome to another French Friday with Dorie. This week's recipe is Dieter's Tartine.

This dish is comprised of toasted sourdough topped with cottage cheese (I left out the sour cream), cucumber , tomato, salt and pepper and chives. It tasted really good - better than I had thought it would. I would never have tried this on my own.

To see what the other Doristas thought, visit the LYL section of the website.

Patty's White Chocolate and Ginger Cookies

I have been feeling a little world weary lately, so I decided to bake some cookies, despite the heat, to cheer me up.  A little while back, I had seen some White Chocolate and Ginger Cookies on Patty's blog, Patty's Food, and printed off the recipe.  I have also had the pleasure of meeting Patty, and I shared a lovely lunch with her when I was in San Francisco last year.

How could you go wrong with white chocolate and crystallised ginger in a cookie? They sounded fab. Also, they are low cal - making them a guilt free treat in my book.

I whipped up these cookies fairly quickly, and was surprised that I actually got 24 cookies, as the recipe states.  Normally, I get more or less cookies than the recipe states, so these impressed me from the start.

Now, if you are hunkering for a massive cookie to sink your teeth into, these are not it.  Only one teaspoon of cookie dough goes into each cookie, so these cookies are more of a bite sized delicacy than a man sized munchie.  However, doesn't that actually mean you can eat more of them??

I really liked these cookies, and their Weight-Watchers friendly nature is a bonus for someone like me who expands on the sight of food.  Thanks for sharing this treat with us Patty!

Chocolate Fudge Cake for Lee's Birthday

Today is my colleague Lee's 40th birthday.  Happy birthday Lee!  Lee is hosting a wonderful party for the occasion, into which she has put so much effort and planning.  I don't think I have put so much effort into anything since I ceased having to choose then timetable University subjects.  I hope Lee has a magnificent evening.

To celebrate Lee's birthday, I made her a cake for work.  Lee is on a weight loss plan at present, so I made her a Low Fat Chocolate Fudge Cake from the Australian Women's Weekly 501 Low Fat Recipes.  You can find the recipe online here.

This is the cake before frosting:

However, a birthday cake is not a birthday cake without decoration, so I made it a little less low fat by making up a frosting with low fat cream cheese (250g) and icing sugar (100g).  The decorations are writing gel, silver cachous and crystallised violets.

This is what the cake looks like once sliced: 

Lee seemed to enjoy her cake - glad she liked it.

Have a great weekend all.