Today is my 100th post on Another Day With Julie! My children did not think I would keep it up. I think my daughter was amazed I got any followers at all. However, it has been about five months and I am still posting. I have tried to keep my blog a positive one and hopefully a helpful one as well. I would like to thank all my amazing followers! I am going to celebrate this milestone by making a cake. Care to join me? The recipe follows…

Buttermilk-Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• cooking spray
• Chocolate Glaze

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add egg whites and egg, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine buttermilk, water, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour into a 9″ round cake pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Spread glaze over cake. Yield: 9 servings.

Chocolate Glaze:

• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
• 2 Tbsp 1% low-fat milk
• 1/2 tsp butter or margarine, melted
• 1/2 tsp light-colored corn syrup

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Yield: 3/4 cup.

Calories 295 (21% from fat); Fat 7g (sat 1.8g, mono 2.6g, poly 1.8g); Protein 5.1g; Carb 53.6g; Fiber 0g; Chol 25mg; Iron 2.4mg; Sodium 274mg; Calc 82mg

(This was a reader recipe by Carol Hook from Cooking Light Magazine.)

The only changes I made to the recipe were…

1. I do not usually have cake flour on hand so I made my own cake flour substitute. To do this I took 3 Tbsp of flour out of the recipe and in it’s place added 3 Tbsp of corn starch. I then put the flour/cornstarch mixture through a sifter and voila!
2. I do not usually have buttermilk on hand either. So to the milk I added a 1/4 tsp of lemon juice.
3. In order to have cakes come perfectly out of pans without sticking I do not choose to use cooking spray. Instead, I cut a circle of wax paper to fit the bottom of the pan. In this case a nice 9″ circle. Then I spread shortening around the side of the pan and with a spoon put a good spoonful of flour in the pan. I then shake the flour around the side of the pan to cover the shortening. Next I place the wax paper circle in the bottom of the pan. The cake batter is then poured directly on top of the wax paper. When the cake has cooled, it will easily come out of the pan and the wax paper can be peeled off and thrown away.
4. I decided to add chopped macadamia nuts around the side of the cake to be fancy and add a little texture.

My family liked this cake. I loved the fact that it looked nice but was super simple to make. The chocolate glaze was the perfect amount for the cake and was the EASIEST frosting I have ever made. It whisked together beautifully with a hand whisk. No mixer required. It was also very easy to spread. Being a single layer cake, it was not too heavy yet satisfied my sweet tooth.

Again, THANKS for following and as always, Happy Baking!