Have I mentioned that I’m finally on Facebook?  I was pretty much pestered into it by Mr. Crankypants who bugged me for months despite insistent protests that I would *never* join.  And yes, he’s gloating as only Mr. Crankypants can.  But I love him just the same :) One thing I don’t love is the weight I gained between Nov 27 and Jan 3rd. Is it just me or is anyone else feeling like those holiday pounds have dug in their heels and are unwilling to fall off?  I’ve been good for the two weeks since the holidays ended.  I got back on the wagon with Weight Watchers and for the first time in a good 6 weeks I feel in control of my eating – yay! I’ve tried countless diets in my lifetime and can say with certainty that WW is the only thing that really works for me.  I don’t like feeling deprived or feeling like there’s foods I can’t eat.  With WW I can eat anything I like as long as I control my portion sizes. I won’t lie… portion control is not easy – especially in a society where everything is “super sized”. Even dinner plates are now much larger than they were before.  DH read and article about some simple “tricks” to weight loss and one of them was to eat off smaller plates (they trick your mind into thinking you’re having a bigger portion since there’s less white space on the plate).  The other day I had a hankerin for cake.  I searched the net and came across a poundcake recipe that looked appealing so I decided to tweak it and lighten things up a little. While this might not be the most photogenic loaf-pan cake I’ve ever made the result is so moist, full of flavor and totally delicious that I wanted to share it with you… even if it means sharing my less-than-impressive photos! LOL!! {continues…}

The original recipe can be found here and intrigued me from the moment I saw it! I love using yogurt or cream cheese in cakes because it gives such a boost to the moisture content.  I also love to eat yogurt so rarely is there a day when you won’t find a few cartons of it in my fridge.  The day I made this I just happened to have a bag of frozen raspberries on hand for another recipe that I’m supposed to make this week (but probably won’t) so I decided to go with what I had on hand… almond yogurt and raspberries :)

When defrosting the berries it quickly became clear that these frozen berries weren’t going to make it in a whole or semi whole state.  The best I could hope for was to create a pureé that could be drained somewhat well and folded in to the completed batter.  Worked like a charm!  While I love the flavor of raspberries it’s those pesky seeds which drive me batty!  Recall from the Raspberry Cream Cake post that I’ve complained about raspberry seeds before. Hey, I’m nothing if not consistent!  Anyway, I went ahead with the raspberries – but if anyone knows of a seedless variety of raspberries, please do let me know!  As for the picture below, I’ve been playing around with light -&- shadows lately… not sure how I feel about it but I’ll keep playing :)

This recipe is extremely versatile and you can use whatever combination of fruit and yogurt flavors that strike your fancy :) Listed below is how I made it this time.  Next time I’ll make additional substitutions to cut down on the fat and calories.  I’ll use I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (instead of full-fat butter) and I’ll use all Egg Beaters (instead of whole eggs).  Again, this is how I made it.  There’s no reason you have to make any substitutions at all. Feel free to use granulated sugar instead of Splenda… 4 whole eggs instead of 2 eggs and 1/2c Egg Beaters… whole fat yogurt instead of non-fat.    It’s versatile… and it’s good… so do whatcha like :)

Raspberry Almond Yogurt Poundcake

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup granulated Splenda
2 eggs
1/2 cup Egg Beaters
6oz non-fat almond yogurt
1 1/2c frozen raspberries, thawed, drained

Method
Preheat oven to 325°F
Prepare a loaf pan with baking spray (or grease & flour)
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and Splenda until light and fluffy
Add in the eggs, Egg Beaters and yogurt until well blended
Add in the flour mixture, 1/2c at a time, blending well after each addition
Using a rubber spatula, fold in the raspberries
Spread evenly in prepared pan and bake for about 70 minutes until cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes
Remove from pan and cool completely. 

Have a delicious day!

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