Have your cake and drink it too

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When something is “forbidden,” one’s desire for it is heightened. That hint of danger perks the senses because it’s on the naughty list.

For the longest time, I banned milkshakes from my diet. It’s scary to think about the content and calorie count of those treats these days. Men’s Health magazine named the large-sized Cold Stone Creamery PBC Shake the worst drink in America with 1,750 calories and 118 grams of fat. Not even Cold Stone’s small varieties are under 900 calories. When the summer kicks in, those “Like It” sized shakes aren’t enough to combat the heat.

Yet, there are days I still want a milkshake – a flavorful delight loaded with all the bad stuff like candy, chocolate syrup and cookie crumb. What has made my cravings unbearable is the rise of cake batter shakes: tall glasses filled with cake batter ice cream and whole milk. Some eateries top them with sprinkles and frosting like a birthday cake. But I have to say no to them.

I searched the Internet to find an at-home version of the cake batter milkshake, but all I could find were recipes that were just as unhealthy and fattening as the fast-food variety. There were ones that required vegetable oil and water that were not appealing and others that were simply adding a few spoonfuls of cake mix to whole milk and ice cream.

My search spawned some creative experiments in the kitchen, recalling how I trimmed the fat and cholesterol content out of my baking and translating that into a milkshake. I also wanted to enhance the cake flavor in the shake, but not make it taste like simple flavored milk. My result is this tropical cake batter shake. I combined pineapple cake mix with unsweetened applesauce to create a batter texture. What is great about unsweetened applesauce is that it adds fiber and substance to the shake without taking away much of the flavor. Instead of whole milk, I chose light coconut milk because it still has body as far as liquids go, but there is less fat and calories. Plus, coconut milk complements well with the pineapple mix.

This shake is also friendlier to my healthier lifestyle than the “Like It” sized Cake ‘n Shake at Cold Stone. The Cake ‘n Shake is composed of cake batter ice cream, nonfat milk and yellow cake pieces. With both shakes weighing in at 16 ounces, my cake batter shake has 432 calories, 19 grams of fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol and 381 milligrams of sodium, according to Livestrong’s online recipe calculator. As described on Cold Stone’s website, the Cake ‘n Shake has 1,060 calories, 56 grams of fat, 140 milligrams of cholesterol and 720 milligrams of sodium. I managed to trim down the calories by 60 percent, fat content by 66 percent and cholesterol by almost 79 percent. Still, it’s something that should be a “sometimes” treat, if you’re counting your calories.

Tropical cake batter milkshake

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups pineapple cake mix

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk

2 cups or 4 large scoops vanilla ice cream, softened

In a small bowl, combine the cake mix and applesauce until the mix turns into a texture resembling cake batter. At first, it may not look like there’s enough applesauce to moisten all the cake mix, but continue to mix the two ingredients. In a blender, add the batter, coconut milk and ice cream, and blend to a desired thickness. If the shake is too thin, add more ice cream.

Note: This method is not limited to this tropical combination. This can be done with any regular cake mix. The basic recipe includes 1 1/2 cups of cake mix, ½ cup of unsweetened applesauce, 2 cups nonfat milk and 2 cups of any flavor of ice cream. Feel free to experiment with flavors like devils food, vanilla and others. I’ve even made a red velvet cake batter shake topped with a light whipped cream using this basic method.

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