Food Friday: Chocolate cheesecake in a disaster? Why not!

You may have heard this week that the Canadian Red Cross has been hosting Disaster Dining Challenges across the country as part of the launch of the annual Walmart fundraising campaign. Without using electricity, 'chefs' are challenged to create a dish in less than 30 minutes using only non-perishable foods that can be stored in their emergency preparedness kit (Red Cross advocates you should have enough food and water to last you and your family 72 hours).

It's a fun challenge and a great way to raise awareness about the need for families to be prepared for any emergency in their home, such as a lengthy power outage.

We're always amazed to see the disaster culinary creations coming from this event. We thought we'd share with you a recipe by one of our contestants at a Disaster Dining Challenge in Peterborough, Ontario.

Disaster cheesecake, anyone?

*Guest blog by Dani Stover, of the Brian & Dani in the Mornings on The Wolf 101.5 FM

This recipe is tasty, easy and most of all, QUICK. I am far from a chef or baker, so if I use awkward terms to explain this “masterpiece”, bear with me - it’ll all be worth it.

Let’s call this the Peanut Butter Chocolate Disaster Dip OR Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake (but I use the term “cheesecake” loosely, and you’ll soon see why).

All you need is:

  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1⁄3 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
  • A snack cup of chocolate pudding (you can also use vanilla or butterscotch – I’m sure tapioca would be good too, but it could also be slightly weird because of the texture. I guess it’s important to know your audience, not everyone likes tapioca)
  • 2-3 crunchy almond granola bars
  • 1 tbsp. fruit juice
  • Blueberry jam to drizzle on top

Make the crust separately. When I say “make the crust” I mean put the granola bars in a bowl, and using another bowl on top, crush the bars down to make a crumble.

Mix  the peanut butter, pudding, honey and fruit juice together in a bowl. If the mix is too sticky, just add more juice. But not too much! If it’s runny, it ruins it.

For a disaster recipe, there really is a fine line between success and screwing the whole thing up and having everybody hate you.

Ahh, I’m kidding -- it’s really a no-fail recipe, and I trust your judgment.

Now you could add some powdered milk (or protein powder) and shape the mix into balls and roll them into the crumble. OR you could just slop the mix onto the crust you’ve “pre-made”, smooth the top (for esthetics) and drizzle with a jam of your choice.

It’s a bit awkward to eat, but we discovered (by accident) that if you scoop it onto tortilla chips, the combination of salty and sweet is extra delish!

Enjoy!

* Dani wrote another fun blog about her great cook-off. Check out what the 'she-wolf' had to say.

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