The other day was a big birthday for a cherished family member.  I asked what gift he wanted and the reply was “make me a German Chocolate Cake!”  Knowing how delicious they are, and a favorite of mine since I was a child, but also realizing that they are very labor-intensive and time-consuming, I set out to find a simpler, even low-fat recipe.

First off, no mix is available.  At least none I could find.  I did find a few recipes online that claimed simplicity, but with the ingredient of a yellow cake mix as primary, I just couldn’t bear the thought, must less actually do it!

I did, however, find one that seemed to fit the need.  Minimal ingredients, fewer steps, and still be from scratch.  Making it myself was going to be a gift in itself.

So I ran to the store, only to find it didn’t have everything I needed: no genuine “German’s” chocolate.  I later learned the cake isn’t “German” at all; it’s “German’s Chocolate Cake” named after a businessman who invented it in reaction to competition from “Graham Crackers.” (That’s a very interesting story in itself.)  So I had to go to another store.  Now already an hour in, I set out to warm the butter in my kitchen, but not spend the whole day baking.

Speaking of butter, this recipe called for 3 sticks, and a half-cup of shortening!  It also calls for 7 eggs!  Not to mention a lot of sugar (3 cups).  This cake is a calorie bomb.  I substituted no-fat evaporated milk in a futile attempt, but I didn’t want to sacrifice authenticity.

The recipe claims it can be made in 30 minutes, an hour total with baking and frosting.  It took me almost 3 hours, going as fast as I could.  There were lots of steps.

There were also lots of calories.  Each serving of 12 in the cake was 749 calories!  A whopping 42 grams of fat in each slice!  Funny, the cake itself tastes as if it’s light and low-fat.  I guess it’s the separating egg yolks and whipping of the egg whites and lightly folding them in that gives that illusion.

Of course, I talked about it a lot at the birthday party.  I revealed the 749 calories a slice to each guest.  We were all shocked.  This revelation didn’t however, make the pieces any smaller.  Birthday guy cut GIGANTIC pieces!  So each was probably double the calories – likely 1,400 or more each.

Imagine, almost a whole day of calories for someone, in a single slice of cake.  We loved every morsel of it though.  I have to admit, that three-layer jewel was amazingly delicious.  No mix, no shortcut would have ever delivered that amount of flavor and texture.  Our birthday boy was delighted, and felt special and highly loved.  I’m just glad all the fat didn’t set the cake on fire when he blew out the candles.

Why am I sharing this with you?  Just to make the point that I believe it’s good to have your cake and eat it too.  Just make it a smaller slice, and only on a special occasion.  If you’re eating cake this caloric, you may want to do like I did and skip the next meal to balance it out and stick with a daily Food Plan.  Most of all be aware of the high fat, sugar, and power it holds – and give it the respect and consciousness it deserves.  Not just in calories, but in energy, meaning and memories.

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