Chocolate Surprise Cake
Thank you to Ellen Jaffe Jones, for sharing this healthy vegan chocolate cake recipe from Eat Vegan on $4 a Day!
Ellen says, “Here's another clever way to get children to eat their vegetables. They won’t even detect the beets, carrots, and zucchini in this chocolate cake. ”
Ellen is committed to creating healthy dishes that are super yummy and affordable. Learn more about being vegan on a budget from her blog: The Veg Coach or chat with her directly on her Facebook page.
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or 2/3 cup regular whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups pitted dates
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks packed natural juices, drained
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 banana
1/2 cup shredded beets
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dates
1/2 cup currants (optional)
1 cup vanilla soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the icing:
1 cup unsalted raw macadamia nuts or raw cashews
1/2 cup brazil nuts or hazelnuts
1 cup vanilla soymilk
2/3 cup whole pitted dates
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2, To make the cake, put the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder together in a medium bowl and stir with a dry whisk until well combined.
3. Put the whole dates, the pineapple, applesauce, and banana in a blender and process until smooth.
4. Combine the beets, walnuts, carrots, chopped dates, optional currants, and zucchini in a large bowl. Stir in flour mixture, soy milk, and vanilla extract. Add the blended date mixture and mix well.
5. Pour the batter into a 9 x 13 nonstick baking pan or two 9 inch round non-stick pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and transfer to a serving platter.
Tip: Because this cake batter is exceptionally moist, the one-hour baking time, which is longer necessary for most cakes is needed here.
To make the icing:
Put all the icing ingredients in a blender and process until smooth and creamy. Spread over the warm or cooled cake.
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