Unfortunately many people and especially children don’t think that they like eggplant so miss this wonderful nutritional opportunity. The best way to get someone to expand his or her taste is to put the particular food in a particularly appetizing format. Eggplant in cake is a great chance to conceal the eggplant and all of it’s nutrients in a dessert. The nutrients and fiber are there without the appearance or obvious taste of the eggplant. Similar to carrot cake, this is a rich cake with a nutty flavor that can also be topped with the traditional cream cheese icing. It is particularly well suited for baking in a bundt pan but can be made in a loaf or traditional cake pan as well. The bundt pan makes a beautiful presentation especially with the cream cheese icing drizzle. To maximize the health benefits of the eggplant, the cake is made with healthy ingredients including whole-wheat flour, nuts, honey and cinnamon. The sugar can be replaced with an artificial sweetener to keep the calories down. The cake can also be served without the icing.
Eggplant Cake Ingredients
½-cup margarine
¼-teaspoon salt
½-cup sugar
1-teaspoon baking powder
½-cup honey
1-teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
½-teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups grated eggplant
½-teaspoon ground cloves
1-cup white flour
1-cup nuts
½-cup whole-wheat flour
3 ounces cream cheese
1-cup confectioners’ sugar
Directions
Cream the margarine, and add the sugar and honey. Beat in the eggs to the mixture and then stir in the grated eggplant, white and whole-wheat flours, the salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and nuts. Pour the mixture into a cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. This cake can be topped with cream cheese icing made with a mixture of 3 ounces of cream cheese and 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar. Drizzle the icing over the cake and then top with a light sprinkle of nutmeg. This cake is healthy enough to have for breakfast as well as an after dinner desert or late night snack.
The eggplant, though often cooked as a vegetable is actually a fruit. Eggplant is easy to grow in a home garden from seed, even in areas with relatively short growing seasons. The name eggplant comes from the appearance of the eggplant which in some varieties resembles an egg. The most common eggplant variety in the United States is the purple eggplant. The purple skin of the eggplant is edible and so does not have to be peeled off, though many people prefer the eggplant without the peel. If you leave the peel on, you gain added benefits of nasunin which is an antioxidant. Eggplants are in season from August through October though generally available in supermarkets year round.
Eggplants are an excellent source of fiber, potassium, manganese, copper, B1, B3 and B6 as well as folate and magnesium and tryptophan. Eggplant is also a good source for antioxidants. When choosing an eggplant, pick one that is firm and heavy without bruises or scars. Eggplants don’t last too long in the fridge so best to buy and cook within a few days.
