DMC's Delicious Desserts Are Made From Beans? You Betcha!
DETROIT (WWJ) - This Spring Break, it's time to get healthy -- but that doesn't mean you have to skip the desserts. In fact, as WWJ's Kathryn Larson reports, a few select morsels are the perfect indulgence for any health nut.
When that dessert cart rolls up -- remember -- sometimes looks can be deceiving. DMC's Children's Hospital of Michigan's Cafeteria Executive Chef Maurice Wallace said his job is to create the treats with some surprising ingredients.
"It's simple. We take the black beans, we drain them, we rinse them, we mix them with an egg mixture, coco and powder sugar and then we bake them," said Wallace
That's right: Desserts made from beans. Wallace said they use black beans for the dark chocolate cupcakes and white navy beans for the petite strawberry shortcakes. He said the beans make a perfect binder and when sliced, they create a wonderful illusion.
"You would actually see little streaks of the black bean but you wouldn't think it was a black bean, you would think it was like little streaks of chocolate," he said.
And those little streaks make these tasty desserts much better for your body.
"The strawberry shortcake is lower in calories than a normal strawberry shortcake. A serving like that is about 200 calories and a normal strawberry shortcake could push close to 350," said DMC Nutritionist Letitia Warren.
And, Warren said the treats are packed with plenty of fiber and protein. The desserts are available seven days a week to the children staying at the hospital. But, do the kids really eat them?
"If the parent comes off positive, like if you're going to try to do something like this at home, you want to make it a fun experiment. You want to work together and not have an already preconceived idea that this isn't going to taste good because it has beans in it," said Warren.
Want to try the treats for yourself? DMC provided WWJ with printable recipes so you can make your own chocolate cupcakes and strawberry shortcakes. Click here for a copy (.pdf format).
