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Healthier way to feed your love of chocolate

My love of all things chocolate can play (sometimes unfortunately) a pivotal role in my life, which is why I'm a sucker for chocolate cake.

I love chocolate frosting, too and at one time in my life, ate the cake first leaving frosting at the end, so I could savor it right down to the last little bit gleaned from my plate with the side of my fork's tines. Mmmmmmm …

My love of chocolate and chocolate cake led me to begin rereading Laurie Colwin's only two food books: “Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen” (1988) and “More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen” (1993). An Internet blog sited one of Laurie Colwin's books for a buttermilk chocolate cake recipe the blog writer shared and I pulled Colwin's books from my collection to read the story behind that recipe.

Laurie Colwin was a novelist, short story author and food writer who passed away the same month and year I began writing this column: October 1992. She was 48 years old.

At that time I'd never heard of Laurie Colwin, nor did I know that most of her food essays appeared in Gourmet magazine.

Colwin had the ability to wind a recipe through her very personal stories, instead of her recipes appearing at the end, as most recipes still do; a unique writing skill I've never been able to achieve.

For readers, Colwin easily became your confidant and friend; sharing her life's stories, opinions (she starts one essay with: “Many years ago I took a stand against picnics.”) and recipes that she made and liked.

Were Colwin's recipes as perfect as the ones professionals shared in glossy food magazines like Gourmet? No. They were everyday food in a real world.

Did folks like me feel an immediate connection and attachment to Colwin after reading one or two essays?

Definitely. Yes.

Colwin always makes me want to head to my kitchen and prepare her recipes. Isn't that what a truly good cookbook does; motivate us to cook?

After returning to reading Colwin recipes this year, the first recipe I made was her “fake Tandoori chicken,” about which she wrote: “I love this chicken and would eat it every other day if my family would let me.”

Colwin used a whole cutup chicken; I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. She simply marinated chicken for eight hours in a mixture of plain yogurt, chili powder, sweet paprika and grated garlic.

50 minutes in a 400 degree oven and I had “mahogany” colored chicken with an interesting and, yes, addictive flavor. And, Colwin's right, it's good hot, tepid or cold.

About the chocolate cake recipe that Colwin shared she wrote: “This cake comes from the new Fanny Farmer Cookbook, revised by Marion Cunningham, and whoever thought the recipe up ought to get the Nobel Prize, It is awesomely simple, contains no eggs, can be made in one bowl ...” Say no more, I immediately headed to my kitchen to make Colwin's cake and cut the sugar.

Once again, Colwin's opinions rang true. Even with half the sugar her chocolate cake turned out amazingly well. Although it was an eggless batter, which made me skeptical about the end results, my cake turned out with a light crumb; with a clean chocolate flavor.

Cutting out half the sugar also cut 387 calories.

S-w-e-e-t.

Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at don@ thelean wizard.com.

Colwin's Slimmed-down Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

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