Healthier Cake (AKA “Diet Cake”)

The year I graduated college, I spent about 8 months on Weight Watchers and lost a LOT of weight.  I got down to my all-time smallest during this round of WW.  I had great support from my leader and friends and was 100% committed to the program – - two ingredients that assure success with any weight loss program, if you ask me.

I remember my 22nd birthday rolling around and being VERY disappointed.  I mean, birthdays had always been associated with indulging and gooey chocolate cake – - my definition of CELEBRATING.  It definitely wasn’t the first time in my life that I had been “on a diet” on my birthday, but it was the first time that I was determined to lose and was willing to make a birthday sacrifice in the name of weight loss. 

What I didn’t expect was a cake to be delivered to me as my birthday present!  My dear friend Linda made me what she called “diet cake” for my birthday.  What an AWESOME present it was!

Unknowingly, Linda chose to make a lemon cake with lemon frosting which I had never had in my life.  I’ve mentioned before that trying “new favorites” have been key to my losing weight… and this was just another example.  While it wasn’t a gooey chocolate cake, it was a REALLY good lemon cake… unlike any I’d ever had!  That made it even better.  This was the only way that I’d ever had lemon cake, so I didn’t miss all the extra fat/calories/etc that would have went with a standard lemon dessert.  BRILLIANT!

Linda’s original recipe exchanged the oil and eggs with applesauce and, like this recipe, can be used to make ANY flavor cake.  When my birthday celebration rolled around this year, I figured it was time to bring back this old favorite.

Thanks, Linda Lou, for making such a special cake for me and for creating a cake I could celebrate with years later!  I’ve adapted it slightly over time based on recipes I’ve learned from fellow “losers”, but credit you eternally for teaching me that substitutions can make EVEN cake healthier!

Diet Cake

Choosing your Cake Mix-Soda Combination: 

Sugar-free cake mix isn’t required, but it was something I wanted to try.  Also, the soda doesn’t give much flavor to the cake, but I usually match it up by color.  You can really use any combination, but here’s a few I recommend:

Yellow Cake + Diet Sprite

Chocolate Cake + Diet Coke or Diet Cream Soda

Devil’s Food Cake + Diet Dr. Pepper

Red Velvet + Diet Coke

Funfetti + Diet 7-Up

Lemon Cake + Diet Sierra Mist

I decided to make 1/2 a cake because I didn’t want leftovers.   Yay for Food Scales!

Can you see how foamy it is?

Mix it up, just as the box says….

I made a 9-inch round with my 1/2 a cake.

Let your cake cool before you start frosting it.

3.  Top with your favorite frosting and enjoy!  I used whipped frosting because it had significantly less calories than the standard jars.  You could surely make your own frosting or skip this step, but I wanted easy frosting!

And… that poor cake looked so flat, so I decided to make it a layer cake!  I cut the round in half and layered it with frosting.

Note to Self:  Must buy a knife with a serrated edge.

The sprinkles were a nice touch!

Warning:  Taking 1/2 a cake to any party leaves you wide open for all the “did you eat the other half?” jokes…

ENJOY!

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