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CAROLYN'S 3-MINUTE FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 teaspoon baking powder *
1 tablespoon butter, softened

Spray a 2-cup measuring cup or small bowl with cooking spray. I used a Grab-it bowl. Add the egg and beat it with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until a smooth batter forms. Microwave on HIGH 30-60 seconds or until it puffs up and no longer looks wet in the center. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 1 serving
Can be frozen

* Carolyn has since cut it back to 1/2 teaspoon.

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 281 Calories; 23g Fat; 9g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 9g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 261 Calories; 23g Fat; 9g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

I like this very much. It tastes a little like a brownie and is very moist. What I like the most about this cake is that it doesn't require anything that you wouldn't already have in your kitchen. The only thing I didn't care for was the saltiness from the baking powder. As you'll read below, I've sinced omitted the baking powder with good results.

I experimented with Carolyn's recipe and discovered that the baking powder doesn't contribute anything to the cake as far as how it turns out. It only adds carbs and saltiness. I also found that I can mix everything right in the bowl that I'm going to cook it in and the bowl doesn't really need to be greased. Every version that I made tasted nearly identical, with the exception of the saltiness from the baking powder in the original recipe, and the consistency was nearly identical as well. Using 1 tablespoon less liquid made no real difference but I wouldn't try using more than a total of 2 tablespoons liquid. Another thing I tried to do was reduce the carbs by using some Da Vinci syrup in place of some of the granular Splenda to help those who don't have liquid Splenda get the carb count down as much as possible. Here are the results of my three experiments:

3-MINUTE FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE #2
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon Da Vinci sugar free syrup, vanilla flavor
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
Tiny pinch salt, optional
1 egg

In a small microwaveable bowl or 2-cup measure microwave the butter for about 20-25 seconds on HIGH until completely melted. Whisk in the cocoa until smooth. It's important to use a whisk for this and it should look a bit like fudge frosting at this point. Whisk in the cream until the batter looks like pudding then whisk in the syrup, sweetener and salt. Lastly add the egg and whisk well until the batter is smooth. Microwave on HIGH about 1 1/2 minutes until set. If the bottom is still wet, invert onto a small plate and microwave another 10 seconds on HIGH. Cool completely or serve slightly warm.

Makes 1 serving
Can be frozen

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 267 Calories; 23g Fat; 9g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 7g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 253 Calories; 23g Fat; 9g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

I think I ever so slightly preferred this version over the ones that follow. I think that the heavy cream mellowed the chocolate flavor a tiny bit. The difference was very slight though.

UPDATE: I remember reading on a forum a while back that someone had a problem when they tried this method for making the cake. Well, the same thing happened to me today but I found a solution. What happened was that the batter didn't come together properly. It looked like milk with chocolate bits floating in it no matter how much I whisked it. The solution is to microwave it on HIGH power for about 10 seconds. You don't want to cook the mixture, just heat it up slightly. Now it should whisk together and look like brownie batter. I think what happened was that the cold ingredients caused the butter and cocoa to harden up and separate. Briefly heating everything helped blend them together. I think that the trick to preventing this is to make sure to thoroughly melt the butter and mix everything right away while the butter is still hot.

UPDATE 1/19/12: I've changed the directions to keep the cocoa and butter from separating when adding the egg. Disregard the previous update.

3-MINUTE FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE #3
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
Tiny pinch salt, optional
1 egg
2 tablespoons Da Vinci sugar free syrup, vanilla flavor
4 teaspoons granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda

In a small microwaveable bowl microwave the butter for about 15-20 seconds on HIGH until completely melted. Whisk in the cocoa and salt until smooth. Whisk in the egg until well blended then whisk in the remaining ingredients until you have a smooth batter. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute. Cool completely or serve slightly warm.

Makes 1 serving
Can be frozen

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 210 Calories; 18g Fat; 8g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 5g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 202 Calories; 18g Fat; 8g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

I made this version for my friend, Nancy, who has to eat gluten and dairy free:

DAIRY-FREE 3-MINUTE FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 egg
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
Tiny pinch salt, optional
2 tablespoons cocoa

Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small microwaveable bowl until the batter is as smooth as possible. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute. Cool completely or serve slightly warm.

Makes 1 serving
Can be frozen

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 224 Calories; 17g Fat; 8g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 8g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 204 Calories; 17g Fat; 8g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

Here's how the cake looks when made in a 2-cup measuring cup:

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