Spotted Dog Shadow

Chocolate-Fudge Pudding Cake

When you have a craving for a comforting dessert, try this pudding cake, which forms its own rich-tasting sauce as it bakes. The coffee flavor is subtle, but it adds complex depth to the cake's flavor.


READER'S COMMENT:
"First things: Get a good quality chocolate chip. You can really taste the chocolate chips in this (they make up close to 50% of the flavor), and if you use a cheaper brand you'll definitely taste it. I used Nestle, and I wish I would have...

Ingredients


1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour, (see Ingredient notes)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar, or 3 tablespoons

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup 1% milk

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, (optional)

1 1/3 cups hot brewed coffee

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar, or Splenda Granular

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans, toasted

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Preparation


1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 1 1/2- to 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar (or Splenda Sugar Blend), cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk egg, milk, oil and vanilla in a glass measuring cup. Add to the flour mixture; stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips, if using. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish. Mix hot coffee and brown sugar (or Splenda Granular) in the measuring cup and pour over the batter. Sprinkle with nuts. (It may look strange at this point, but don't worry. During baking, cake forms on top with sauce underneath.)

2.Bake the pudding cake until the top springs back when touched lightly, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve hot or warm

Tips & Notes

Ingredient Notes: Whole-wheat pastry flour--the whole-grain equivalent of cake flour--adds fiber and a rich, nutty taste.

Substituting with Splenda: In the EatingWell Test Kitchen, sucralose is the only alternative sweetener we test with when we feel the option is appropriate. For nonbaking recipes, we use Splenda Granular (boxed, not in a packet). For baking, we use Splenda Sugar Blend for Baking, a mix of sugar and sucralose. It can be substituted in recipes (1/2 cup of the blend for each 1 cup of sugar) to reduce sugar calories by half while maintaining some of the baking properties of sugar. If you make a similar blend with half sugar and half Splenda Granular, substitute this homemade mixture cup for cup.

When choosing any low- or no-calorie sweetener, be sure to check the label to make sure it is suitable for your intended use.

Nutrition

Per serving: 220 calories; 7 g fat (1 g sat, 3 g mono); 27 mg cholesterol; 20 g carbohydrates; 4 g protein; 2 g fiber; 237 mg sodium; 105 mg potassium.



2 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving



Exchanges: 21/2 other carbohydrate, 1 fat

STRAWBERRY MARBLED CHEESECAKE

Crust:

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar



Cheesecake:



24 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

10 ounces frozen strawberries (thawed), in syrup

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch



Puree strawberries and cornstarch in blender. Heat in a saucepan over medium heat until thickened, then cool. Combine melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Bake at 350°F. for 10 minutes. Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pour half of the batter over the crust then add half of the strawberry mixture by spoonfuls to the batter. Pour remaining batter into the pan then add the remaining strawberry mixture by spoonfuls. Swirl the mixture with a knife until it resembles a marbled effect. Bake at 300°F. for 50-60 minutes or until set. Allow cheesecake to cool then remove from rim of pan. Chill overnight before serving.



Serving Size: 12



Submitted By: Edna Campbell

Franchises sue KFC over shift to grilled chicken

Is the future grilled or fried?




At Kentucky Fried Chicken, the name once said it all. But the world's most popular chicken chain is betting heavily that its grilled chicken -- which racked up nearly $1 billion in sales in its first year -- is the Next Big Thing. That has angered a coalition of franchise owners, who run most of the restaurants and believe the focus should remain fried.



The simmering dispute erupted into a lawsuit filed by franchisees this week that claims KFC management ignored their pleas to stay true to the colonel's original recipe for a product that could be no more than a flash in the pan, and instead devoted the advertising budget to promoting the new grilled chicken.



The company "appears to believe that the future of KFC lies with grilled chicken rather than fried Original Recipe or Extra Crispy chicken products," the franchisees asserted in the suit.



In a written response yesterday, KFC parent company Yum! Brands called the lawsuit "baseless."



"Yum Brands fully expects to win the suit and minimize the waste of time and money spent on it so that we can continue to satisfy our customers and grow the business," said Jonathan Blum, a senior vice president at Yum.



Nutritionists are fond of reminding us that fried won't make us fit, and Yum chief executive David Novak told analysts recently that the lack of healthy options on the menu was keeping some customers away. Grilled chicken was the answer, with 70 to 180 calories and four to nine grams of fat. Original Recipe fried chicken has 130 to 360 calories and eight to 24 grams of fat.



But what Americans think they should eat isn't always what they actually eat. Jim Cocolin, second vice president of the Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees, said fried chicken still rules the roost at his restaurants.



"We need both, but our fried is 80 percent of our business," he said. "That kind of speaks for itself right now."



The furor over the fowl began in 2008, according to the suit, when Yum tapped Roger Eaton, who had led KFC's international divisions, to oversee the brand. That included dealing with the KFC National Council and Advertising Cooperative, which represents KFC franchise owners in the company's marketing decisions.





The suit claims that under Eaton's tenure, KFC executives began dismissing franchise owners' input, refusing to attend meetings and adopting a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. The owners filed suit to force the company to recognize their standing and suggestions. In particular, the suit said, KFC let fried chicken get soggy over the past year while marketing its grilled chicken.



Last spring, the company launched the grilled chicken -- dubbed KGC -- by proclaiming an UNFry Day. Ads encouraged customers to "unthink KFC" and established a new "grill nation." It held a Myspace contest to hunt for a new colonel. And when Oprah offered a coupon for a free KGC meal on her show in May, hungry customers formed block-long lines at restaurants across the country.



"Kentucky Grilled Chicken has been an unqualified success," Novak told analysts in Yum's most recent earnings call. "We needed to broaden the appeal of this brand and we have done it."



Perhaps this is just a case of too much of a good thing. Chicken -- in any form -- is the second most popular food in America after sandwiches, according to NPD Group, a consumer behavior research firm.



NPD estimates fried chicken, including nuggets and strips, accounted for about 13 percent of meals ordered outside of homes for dinner. Non-fried chicken was about 10.6 percent of meals. All together, chicken makes up nearly a quarter of dinners.



"This country still likes fried chicken," said Harry Balzer, senior analyst with NPD. But, he added, "what we're always looking for is new versions of the things we love. The more important it is to us, the more variety we're looking for."