My planned cut for the summer months is not going as planned. It turns out that I really bought into the extra calories to build muscle and strength, and it’s a habit I’m finding difficult to break. Hopefully, I’ll get mad enough at myself to get through those first two weeks needed to break and establish new habits soon.
In the meantime, I needed a low calorie version of a dessert to lessen the impact of my failure. It needed to be light yet delicious, healthy yet satisfying, and of course, chocolatey.
A torte came to mind. No, not a traditional layered torte full of sugar and bad fats. But…the base of the torte…that held potential. Now, what to make it with that would be low calorie? That ruled out avocados. As healthy as they are, and as easy as that would be to use, low calorie they are not.
Perhaps something that is already naturally sweet, blends smoothly, and never overpowers other ingredients.
Butternut squash. Of course. It’s thought of as a vegetable, but technically, it’s a fruit.They are loaded with fiber and more vitamins and minerals than I have time to list. This torte would not only be low calorie and satisfying, but it would be like taking a multivitamin that actually works.
And let me tell you, this was so good that I almost didn’t get pictures of it after it was done. That’s how fast it disappeared around here. I asked everyone to guess what was in it, and no one came close to guessing butternut squash. That’s good news for any of you that think you hate butternut squash, because you won’t even know you are eating it.
This takes very little ingredients and is so easy to make. It’s also highly customizable. You can turn it into an actual torte and make some other layers for it if you like, but it does not need it. Save the calories and savor the smooth sweetness of this vegetable fruit chocolate torte, It is, after all, time for summer and those swimsuits are lurking in the darkness…waiting and watching.
Butternut Squash Torte
Ingredients
1/2 of a butternut squash, steamed
150 grams 70% dark chocolate
50 grams grass fed butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup nut milk (unsweetened almond or macadamia nut)
Instructions:
Peel, seed, and dice your squash. Steam until soft and easily squashed with a fork. Place in a mixing bowl and use a hand blender until smooth:
Make a double boiler out of a pot and a bowl to melt your chocolate and butter together, stirring often. Be careful of steam when removing the bowl from the pot:
Blend the chocolate into the squash until smooth. Add the nut milk and vanilla and blend again, Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a springform pan and pour all the goodness into it:
Place in the fridge to cool for at least 4 hours: Slice and then hide from everyone so you can eat them all:
See the list of all Jason Murphy’s recipes at www.mysaline.com/jason-murphy.