So I’m just sitting in my apartment, minding my own business when a “Jessica!” comes from outside in the garden.  It’s dark, so I can’t see who it is very well, but when I open the door, I am greeted by nothing less than a macro god.

He’d be incredibly embarrassed to know that I’ve written that, but it’s kinda true.  It’s sort of an open secret among macro women that everyone has had a crush on Mark Hanna; he’s good looking, supernaturally cool, has traveled everywhere, and can whip up a 7-course meal for 600 with his eyes closed.  What girl wouldn’t want to come home to that?  Plus, he’s a great advertisement for the cause–although he has passed his half-century mark, he looks about 35 and ready to hit the next surf board that comes along.  Here’s a nerdy pic of him cooking for the Taste of Health Caribbean Cruise.

Unfortunately for all the single macro ladies, Mark is married to wonderful woman and they live in Belgium most of the time–he’s just in L.A. on a cooking job.  So we sat and chatted for a while… it’s very interesting when two macrobiotic people get together; there is a specific language used that would seem so strange to an outsider–yin and yang, biological degeneration, Sarah Palin being “so yang”.  We talked about the late Bill Dufty, who wrote Sugar Blues, the great anti-sugar tome that’s been in print for over thirty years.  Mark knew Bill well and even traveled with him long distances in his truck when Bill was in his early 80s.  Mr. Dufty would just sit, arms crossed like a tribal chief, spilling the stories of his life.  Stories of his late wife Gloria Swanson, J. Edgar Hoover, Billie Holiday, even George Ohsawa.  He had a very, very big life.  By talking to Mark, I felt like I was reaching back into the past through a door that had almost disappeared.

Life is big.  And it’s short.   Eat well, find yourself, have fun, and every once in a while, eat Mark’s Chocolate Cake from his book Greens and Grains on the Deep Blue Sea.

Really Rich Chocolate Cake

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup soft silken tofu

1 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups soymilk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Easy Chocolate Sauce

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

1 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips

1/2 cup soymilk or rice milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To Make the Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Oil and flour a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.

2. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl.

3. Place the oil, tofu, ample syrup, vanilla soymilk, and vinegar in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Add to the flour mixture and stir until well mixed.  Pour into the prepared pan.

4.  Bake about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool 15 minutes before removing the sides of the pan.  Cool completely before adding the sauce.

To Make Sauce:

1.  Add water to the bottom half of a double boiler and place the chocolate chips and soymilk in the top section.  Bring to water to a boil and heat the chips, stirring often until melted.

2.  Add the vanilla extract and stir with a whisk until smooth.

3.  Cool slightly before using.  Pour or spread over chocolate cake.

Variation: You can prepare this sauce without a double boiler.  Add the chips and soymilk to a small saucepan and place over low heat.  Stir constantly until the chips are melted.  Other variation: Instead of vanilla, try other extracts, such as almond and orange.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 7:21 pm and is filed under My Life, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.