there's a duck

Because he’s so wise, my friend Arby knows how to make one of the worlds yummiest things- chocolate cake, but with a dairy-free healthy twist so you can sneak in heaps without getting into trouble!

Anywhere you see the ± sign, I use it to note possible alterations I can recommend or ingredients that are totally optional. 

• 1 Med/Large Zucchini, unpeeled and grated
• 2-3 small beets, cooked and drained
• 150grams silken tofu
• ½ cup raw sugar ± Arby actually uses a tablespoon each of rice syrup, maple syrup and low GI sugar in place of this sometimes when he’s watching his figure. 
• 1 ¾ cup wholemeal s/r flour
• 1 tsp bi-carb soda
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1 tbsp ground coffee 
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup oat, soy, almond or rice milk
• 1 cup dark choc chips, dairy-free (Sugarless Blues or Sweet William make alright varieties… ± you can substitute with chopped chunks of any of your favourite choc like lindt dark 70%-85% varieties which are low lactose, it’s awesome)
• ± 1tsp vanilla extract
• ± 1 tbsp of chilli powder or cayenne pepper can give this cake a real kick. You could use it in the actual mix or maybe just frosting. I don’t include frosting in this recipe because everyone has a kind they dig and i prefer just dusting the end result with icing sugar or serving with some crushed peanuts. 

Preheat oven to…like, 180ºC. 

In a blender make a mush out of beetroot, zucchini and tofu. Mix in coffee, choc chips, sugar and any of the ± (optional) ingredients. 

In a separate bowl sift in flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and cinnamon. 

Add wet to dry and mix well. Add the milk bit by bit just to add to get a good consistency going.  

Put into non-stick cake pan and cook until a knife goes in and comes out clear (though if it comes out with melted choc, you might have hit a choc-chip so be aware of that). This takes about 40mins.

Ice how you want or dust with icing sugar to serve.

The pictures here show a version I did where i first put down baking paper in the cake pan and put down a layer of crushed peanuts with maple syrup before pouring on the cake mix…you gotta mix it up, yeah?! 

This is the beetroot, zucchini, tofu stage that will confuse and scare any onlookers who are expecting chocolate cake when you’re done.

Peanut maple-syrup top.

…careful

Best bit. No egg, so you wont get salmonella or something cleaning up this way.

No! This is the best bit. Sharing with friends.