If you want a good chocolate "frosting," you could try using a tofu chocolate pudding. If you have the right ratios so it's a bit stiffer (up the chocolate), it's just the right texture and flavor to use as frosting - super creamy and chocolatey! You really can't taste the tofu at all. It's what I'm planning to use to frost a birthday cake in a few weeks. Just blend silken tofu and melted semisweet chocolate chips and you can adjust it to taste.
Although not low calorie per se, but have you thought about using avocado to frost your cake? Avocados, while rich in fat (and therefore calories) happily form part of a healthy diet and if processed together with cocoa powder, some brown rice syrup (or agave or maple syrup) and a pinch of sea salt create a super thick and rich tasting frosting (and you can't taste the avocado at all). That way you still get thick and rich frosting but don't have to feel so bad about eating it!
My mother in law makes a chocolate cake and fills and frosts it with cooked chocolate pudding. She also adds cherries in between the layers on top of the pudding. It's awesome!
Barbara makes a good point. You can skip the frosting, maybe even serve with frozen yogurt, a small amount of fresh whipped cream, a drizzle of heated peanut butter (so it thins out)....
I like layering whipped cream between and on top of layer cakes. (1 half pint cream whipped with 1 tsp vanilla and 1 TBS powdered sugar) and berries (raspberries with chocolate cake , any berries with vanilla cake or lemon cake,) It's pretty and tastes better than frosting to me.
If I were looking for a low calorie topping for a chocolate cake, I'd probably either just sprinkle it with powdered sugar or fresh fruit, or mix some jam into plain yogurt and put that on top of the cake. Or just top it with a really good jam. None of those really qualify as "frosting."
For a 9 inch cake I would use 8 oz of dark chocolate and 1 cup of heavy cream, chop your chocolate, bring cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for about 5 minutes and stir until it's smooth and shiny. I sometimes whip it to make it the consistency of frosting, cool in an ice bath and whip with your electric mixer. Or you can simply pour the ganache over the cake for a smooth shiny frosting.
This is difficult. Frosting by definition is not low calorie. The only thing that comes to mind are the chocolate frosting recipes out there that are made with sour cream. Perhaps you can sub greek yogurt, but really cant vouch for how it would turn out. Oh and you might also try to sub some reduced fat cream cheese for butter if you're making a buttercream. Again, though, still not low cal.
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