Ready Set Cook !

You’ve all seen the show “Ready Set Cook” on Food network. The one where you have a basket of mystery ingredients and then 30 minutes to prepare a dish using all of them. Imagine getting this basket of ingredients…. Dates, pineapple chunks, apple sauce, raw beets, currants, walnuts, macadamia nuts, bananas, cocoa powder, raw carrots, whole-wheat flour, raw zucchini and on and on…

 What dish would you prepare?  Not a problem for Dr. Joel Fuhrman… “Why a Never-Get-Sick Chocolate Cake of course! “ And he should know what he is talking about because Dr Fuhrman is an American board-certified family physician who specializes in nutrition-based treatments for obesity and chronic disease. 

When I saw this recipe I couldn’t wait to try it. If you really do (as the Doc claims) “never-GET-sick” if you eat this cake I wanted to see if the cake was so good you “never-GOT-sick” of eating it.  I have to admit I enjoyed it. Very moist, not too sweet and quite “rich” in a healthy way. So if you are trying to lose a few pounds but craving chocolate cake… then this recipe is for you. Chocolate cake… without the sin !

Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Never-Get-Sick Chocolate cake

Serves 12

Cake

1 2/3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp baking soda

3 1/2 cups pitted dates, divided

1 cup pineapple chunks in own juice, drained

1 banana

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup raw beets, shredded

3/4 cup raw carrots, shredded

1/2 cup raw zucchini, shredded

3 tbsp natural, nonalkalized cocoa powder

1/2 cup currants

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/2 cups water

2 tsp vanilla extract

 Chocolate Nut Icing

1 cup raw macademia nuts and/or raw cashews

1 cup vanilla soy, hemp or almond milk

2/3 cup pitted dates

1/3 cup brazil nuts or hazelnuts

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.

 In blender or food processor, purée 3 cups of the dates, pineapple, banana and applesauce. Slice remaining 1/2 cup dates into 1/4-inch pieces.

 In large bowl, mix sliced dates, beets, carrots, zucchini, cocoa powder, currants, walnuts, water, vanilla and flour mixture. Add the blended mixture and mix well.

Spread in a 9 x 13-inch nonstick baking pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the icing, use a high-powered blender and combine all icing ingredients until smooth and creamy. Spread on cooled cake.