So, I am trying to eat healthy over spring break, because I’d eaten terribly during midterms. Happens to the best of us.
I’d planned healthy dinners all week, and they were all satisfying and flavorful. But, there’s that sweet tooth. It’s a troublemaker, I tell you.
Luckily, I had just what I needed. Normally, berries and fat free whipped cream is my go-to sweet after dinner. That night, however, it was rainy, dark, and 40 degrees. I wanted something warm, with winter spices. I opened the pantry and found a pumpkin cake mix, a can of apple pie filing, and a diet cream soda.
Voila, dessert is done! Actually, this makes a pretty good breakfast too (just sell it as a coffee cake).
It’s a riff on the idea of a dump cake and a soda cake combined. Obviously, you can change the flavors based on what you have. I currently have a vanilla cake mix and a can of peaches next to my extra diet soda, so that combination may happen this weekend.
It really does work. I am not lying to you here. The soda moistens the mix and produces a perfectly normally-textured cobbler or cake. I don’t think it would ever make a fudgy result, but a semi-fluffy, very moist result is pretty much certain.
This recipe is so easy, it’s barely a recipe, but here you go!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 pumpkin cake mix
- 1 can apple pie filling
- 1 zero calorie canned cream soda (or root beer)
- Optional: raisins and walnuts, additional cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, whipped cream
TO PREPARE:
Preheat the oven to 350
Generously grease a 9×9 baking pan
Pour in the apple filling.
In another bowl, mix the cake mix, soda, raisins/walnuts, and pour over the apples.
Sprinkle additional spices on top
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean
Serve with whipped cream and no guilt! I’m no nutritionist, but a similar recipe I found weighed in at 160 calories for 1/10 of the cake.
whenkathycooks 