Lighter Chocolate Cherry Cake

Women can have such a difficult relationship with food which makes celebrating a bit tricky. There is a truly beautiful, very slim woman at work who is very often detoxing and dieting. I suppose women are just like that. Still, for her birthday last week I did want a little celebration we could all join in on so I made her a chocolate cake....but lighter.

I found the original recipe here.

Lighter Chocolate Cherry Cake

100g dark chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons Marsala

2 egg yolks

4 egg whites

2/3 cup wholemeal plain flour

1 600g jar Morello or sour cherries

1 grated apple

Icing sugar to dust

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin.

2. In a large bowl, pour the boiling water over the chocolate, sugar and sifted cocoa, stir to combine. Stand for two minutes for the chocolate to melt, stir again until smooth. Stir in Marsala.

3. Lightly beat the egg yolks and whisk into the chocolate mixture.

4. Fold in flour.

5. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold through chocolate mixture.

6. Fold through cherries and grated apple. Pour into lined tin, smooth top and bake for 35 minutes, or until cooked.

7. Dust with icing sugar and serve, reminding people how very good this is for them.

Mmm, chocolate made without child slavery.


Nobody could pick that this was a cake without butter or oil. Less sugar was used but it was perfectly sweet. Moist, dense, chocolatey goodness. In order to have a taste (the birthday girl insisted seeing as she was abandonning her detox) I called it slice :)