Life's a Stitch

I walked into the kitchen at work. A co-worker from Iran offered me a treat. No thank you, I say, it's not on my diet. He seemed surprised, not sure why. I have a fair bit of middle age gathering around my waist, the equivalent of about ten pounds per child since my wedding day nearly thirty years ago. Then reality punched me square in my pudgy tummy. I looked at him and honestly replied, I have been on a diet for most of the past 42 years. 

Sad as that sounds, when I put my mind to it, I am most successful dieting when avoiding anything white that's not protein. I could've made a billion had I realized I was making up South Beach at age 18. 

What brought this on though, is the straw that broke the camel's back, one Fudge Cake with Coconut, albeit healthified. But how healthy can a cake that tall be, containing a half pound of cream cheese? It was light cream cheese. And I substituted half whole wheat flour. C thought it was so healthy that he had to buy ice cream to go with it.

Enough. If you have occasion to break a diet or want to leave your bad habits behind with a bang, this is the way to go:

Fudge Cake with Coconut

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a bundt pan.

Make the filling: 1/3 C sugar, 1t vanilla, 1 8 oz package of softened cream cheese, 1 egg, 1/2 C shredded coconut. Beat all until creamy.

Beat at high speed for one minute: 1 1/2 C sugar,1 C oil, 3 eggs

Add the following and beat for three minutes at medium speed: 3C flour, 3/4 C cocoa, 2t baking soda, 2t baking powder,1.5t salt, 1C hot coffee, 1C buttermilk, 1t vanilla.

Pour half of batter into bundt pan. Spoon filling on top, add the remaining batter. Bake for one hour. Cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing. 

Unbelievably delicious.