Dark Chocolate & Lemon Bundt Cake

I ran across this amazing lemon bundt cake at lululuathome.  I loved the lemon syrup brushed across the surface of the cake...it just sounded so tasty.  The only thing better than a lemon cake, is a lemon cake covered in luscious dark chocolate.  It's like a win win.  This made the perfect Valentine's Day cake.  I had quite a bit of fun putting it together.

The original recipe called for sour cream, but I was out so I substituted some plain yogurt.  Mental note...make sure you have all your ingredients before you start assembling the cake...ehehehe.  Though after I baked the cake I realized I had some lemon yogurt I could have used instead of the plain...which might have added a little extra citrus zing.  Something to play with next time maybe.

I might cut the flour down a bit the next time I make this.....as I was mixing it just seemed to be a little heavy on that ingredient.


Dark Chocolate & Lemon Bundt Cake

Cake:
2 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tbls lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend
2 cups sugar
4 eggs

Cream together butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs.  Add one cup of the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the batter.  Mix in yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla.  Mix in remaining flour.  Pour into greased bundt pan.  Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done.  Cool for 5 to 10 minutes in pan before removing.

Lemon Syrup
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes or until mixture thickens.  Brush over warm cake.  Cool and chill cake.

Dark Chocolate Fudge Topping:
14oz can nonfat sweetened condensed milk
12oz dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 to 3 tbls milk

Mix together sweetened condesned milk, dark chocolate chips, and vanilla in a bowl and microwave, stirring often, until mixture is smooth and melted....it will be quite thick.  Thin the chocolate mixture with the milk.  Spoon topping over sides of cake, spreading with the back of the spoon.  Chill to set the chocolate.  Spoon some of the topping mixture into a ziplock bag with the tip cut off.  Pipe some hearts around the top of the bundt, filling in the hearts with more piped topping.  Pipe some lines in between the hearts as extra garnish.  Spoon the remaining fudge topping into the center of the bundt.

Garnish:
4oz dark chocolate candy bar

Using a vegetable peeler, shave some chocolate off the sides of the candy bar.  Sprinkle the shaved chocolate on top of the well of fudge topping in the middle of the bundt.

Melt one to two ounces of the dark chocolate and use another ziplock bag with the tip cut off to pipe some open heart shapes onto waxed paper.  Drizzle some stripes of chocolate across the hearts with a fork.  Chill to set.  Remove the hearts from the waxed paper and tuck them in the chocolate shavings.  Chill until ready to serve.

This cake made the perfect entry for Dessert Wars....February's theme is dark chocolate and hearts. 

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