Chocolate Cake With Cheese Filling

How to lose weight and love food

I was living the foodie dream, or so I thought. I was in my twenties with a lifestyle of client lunches, extravagant dinners out and hangover-busting breakfasts. Yet at 28 I was clinically obese.

I was 15 stone (about 95kg) and only 5ft 5in (about 1,6m) tall. I didn't wear it well.

“How on earth am I going to fit into a nice dress?” was my second response when my partner proposed.

In addition, I wanted a wedding album that flaunted, not haunted me. However, we still had our twentysomething priorities, so booked the holiday first. Alain Ducasse's newest outpost had recently opened in Mauritius and we lost weight together in readiness

I was three-and-a-half stone lighter when I got married in May 2003 but, in eating terms, not any brighter. I had lost weight for the wrong reasons and was miserable after the self-deprivation of a quick-fix diet. I had stopped entertaining or going out and ceased to enjoy what I cooked.

Denying myself what I cherished only made matters worse. Four years later, with two pregnancies under my ever-expanding belt, a sudden realisation rocked me - I would not be able to cope with two children under three. I got scared. I had to be there for my family. At a whopping, post-partum 15-and-a-half-stone, I was sciatica-ravaged and exhausted, so I resolved to attain and keep an optimal BMI at the earliest healthy opportunity.

This is my dilemma. I love food, but I needed to find a way to live healthily. Could I have my cake, eat it and still get into the jeans of my dreams? I wanted a sustainable lifestyle shift that supported the passion for real food that still slumbered within me. I had spent 15 years eating myself into this state, and by falling into the trappings of gourmandise (pompous restaurants and expense accounts), I had become estranged from my first love, good honest grub.

see you in the morning: Chocolate Cake + Chai Cream Cheese + ...

In a large bowl, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. in a large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until slightly thickened and lemon colored, about 3 minutes. slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, almond, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. add dry mixture and beat until just combined well. divide batter between pans and bake in the middle of the oven until a tested comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.  place first layer on cake plate. dollop as much or little chai filling onto the layer and spread just until the edges. i like to stick it in the fridge and let each layer firm up as you build the cake. next layer of cake and filling. fridge. last layer of cake. then crumb coat the outside of the cake with the whipped cream scraping the sides to get all of the crumbs suspended in the cream. refrigerate for 15 minutes and then frost the outside with the remaining whipped cream. decorate and admire what you've created.

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