A chocolate cake that loves your body back

There is real tenderness in wanting a cake for the days that matter. This one is built entirely from whole food that works with where you are right now, green plantain, banana, and pumpkin doing the work flour and eggs once did, and it tastes like true chocolate without a single grain of cocoa.

Green plantain here is more than structure. It carries resistant starch, a prebiotic fiber studied for supporting the bacteria living in your gut, and banana is a source of potassium and vitamin B6, both involved in steady energy and nervous system function. The joy you get from a slice and the repair work your body is doing can sit at the same table.

When you pull this from the oven, let it cool completely before you frost it. Stand there a moment and smell it, whole plantains, real honey used sparingly, an avocado that grew on a tree somewhere warm. There is something worth being grateful for in a dessert made entirely of things you can name.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 2 green plantains
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup carob powder
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon alcohol-free vanilla (or 3/4 teaspoon vanilla powder)
• 1 5/8 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace

Frosting:

• 1 avocado
• 1 banana
• 2 tablespoons carob powder
• 1 tablespoon honey

Method

• Heat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square pan.
• Add all the cake ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until completely smooth.
• Pour the batter into the pan and spread it level.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool fully in the pan. This matters, a warm cake will melt the frosting.
• While it cools, blend the avocado, banana, carob powder, and honey until smooth and glossy.
• Frost the cooled cake. Keep it refrigerated.

Instant Pot variation

This is a baked cake and is not suited to the Instant Pot or air fryer. Use a conventional oven as written.

*Adapted from a-clean-plate*