Low-Calorie Chocolate Cake Recipes

This easy-to-make chocolate cake is dark, moist, rich--and only dirties one bowl! Not quite as easy as boxed cake mixes, but those often contain trans fats. Our simple “from scratch” recipe gives you a home-baked cake with healthful canola oil and whole-wheat flour.

Inspired by the old-school, ultra-rich, mousselike chocolate cake that usually called for a whole pound of chocolate, half a dozen eggs and lots of butter, this enlightened rendition has deep bittersweet chocolate flavor and dense melt-in-your-mouth texture. No one will guess it's healthier. The secret is excellent natural cocoa powder and good-quality bittersweet chocolate, preferably with 70% cacao. Although the cake can be eaten once it's completely cool, it comes out of the pan much easier and even tastes better if it has been chilled at least overnight.

Serve this dense, fudgy pudding cake with vanilla frozen yogurt.

Sometimes we even stun ourselves. This ultra-rich and creamy chocolate cheesecake has less than 10 grams of fat per slice, making it one of our all-time best successes. We replaced the full-fat cream cheese in the original with pureed cottage cheese and reduced-fat cream cheese. To achieve a rich chocolate flavor, we used cocoa powder enhanced by a small amount of high-quality chocolate instead of 12 ounces chocolate chips.

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.

A simple, low-fat and--best of all--fast chocolate cake that is moist and dense.

Sheet cakes are a potluck dream: the baking pan holds the cake and makes it wonderfully portable. This one is accompanied by an almond “cream” made from heavy cream and reduced-fat sour cream. Together, the cake and cream replicate the taste of Mexican chocolate with its undertones of almond and cinnamon. Or make cream cheese frosting and add 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.

Here we stir a little melted chocolate into ricotta cheese for a cheesecake-like topping for chocolate wafer cookies.

These healthy chocolate cupcakes get a soft, moist texture from their not-so-secret ingredient: beets. The beets act as a natural red food dye, plus they bump up the fiber. Use red beets to give the cream cheese frosting a vibrant pink hue.

A bûche de Noël--a cake decorated like a yule log--is a traditional dessert served around Christmastime in France, Belgium, Canada and some other French-speaking countries. Our recipe, which is just as tasty served cold as it is at room temperature, is lighter than air. The chocolate brown-butter génoise cake made with whole-grain flour is easy to roll up and it's covered with a billowy espresso-spiked 7-minute frosting. We've substituted agave nectar for white sugar in the frosting. It's pretty garnished with meringue mushrooms and sugared rosemary.

Serve this chocolate angel food cake with low-fat frozen yogurt and fresh fruit.

A bûche de Noël--a cake decorated like a yule log--is a traditional dessert served around Christmastime in France, Belgium, Canada and some other French-speaking countries. Our gluten-free recipe, which is just as tasty served cold as it is at room temperature, is lighter than air. The chocolate brown-butter génoise cake is easy to roll up and it's covered with a billowy espresso-spiked 7-minute frosting. We've substituted agave nectar for white sugar in the frosting. It's pretty garnished with meringue mushrooms and sugared rosemary.

The surprise ingredient in this chocolate cake--mashed potatoes--keeps it exceptionally moist.

This chocolate cake is sophisticated, rich, moist and even a bit gooey, with a slightly crusty top. If you have grappa, use it instead of the rum. The cake can be served once it's completely cool, but for the best flavor and texture, make it the day before you plan on eating it. Serve with a sprinkling of confectioners' sugar or a dollop of whipped cream.