The batter: Uh oh.

My recent obsession with kale may be getting out of hand. My kids and I were making a peace-loving chocolate cake today when I had the wild idea to blend 3 huge leaves of kale with the wet ingredients in my Vitamix (the #1 kitchen appliance). They wouldn’t notice, right? And the cocoa would hide the green color. Perhaps I wasn’t mental, I was brilliant!! Hmm, let’s see…

Not too shabby!

ChoKALEt Cake
Makes 9 servings
Prep time 10 minutes, Hands-off cooking time 35 minutes

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/3 cup vegetable oil, or melted Earth Balance margarine
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup filtered water
3 large kale leaves, stems removed
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

1 Tbsp powdered sugar, or ¼ cup thin vanilla frosting to top

1 Preheat oven to 350° F.

2 Sift dry ingredients together (minus the powdered sugar).

3 Place wet ingredients (minus the apple cider vinegar) and kale in Vitamix or other powerful blender. Blend until smooth and bright green.

4 Stir wet ingredients, apple cider vinegar, and dry ingredients together until well-mixed. Stir in chocolate chips, if using.

5 Pour batter into lightly oiled 9 x 9-inch baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cake sit 10 minutes before sprinkling with powdered sugar (use a sifter for a delicate, and evenly topped cake), or drizzling with vanilla frosting.

Nutrition info per large piece (w/o icing): 234 calories, 8 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 409 mg sodium, 37 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 17 g sugar, 4 g protein, 119% vitamin A, 61% vitamin C, 4.5% calcium, 9% iron

While everyone (except me) was too afraid to try the green batter, the cake was DE.LISH.OUS. And incredibly filling. No one could finish a full piece. It still had a slightly green hue (therefore I just dimmed the lights during dessert). And while my family eats kale like wild tigers and I’m not necessarily in favor of hiding veggies in desserts, in this case we were making chocolate cake already, so why not beef up it’s nutrient power?

Where’s the craziest place you’ve hidden a veggie? (Besides under your college roommate’s bed before Winter break…)