Welcome to the Path Lab

You may have seen bodies dissected and examined on CSI, or in a real medical school lab. You know the drill. The dearly departed is stretched out on a cold slab and people in lab coats hover over and examine the pitiful minutiae of the poor soul's remains.

Today, I'm going to show you how to dissect a recipe you see in the mainstream press and then you'll get some basic science under your belt --the belt that is getting looser and looser as you keep to your High Fat High Protein diet -- and you will know how to glance at a recipe and see if it can be salvaged. The basic question being what is healthy about the recipe and what is not.

The recipe we're working with today sounded so enticing. It was billed as a low carb dessert. Well, that gets my attention. And the photo was glorious. It was a parfait glass with layers of chocolate cake, whipped cream and cherries. They called it a Black Forest Trifle. What's not to love?
Then, reading the details of the recipe, the horrible truth began to sink in. In the first place each serving had 28 grams of carbs. Are you kidding me? They call this low carb?

The recipe began with some abomination called a sugar free chocolate cake mix. Next came the inevitable fat free Koolwhip. and finally some frozen cherries. The picture looked good, but my question was, is there any way to make this thing and not have it be lethal?

The short answer is yes. And yes, you can eat fat and grow thin. And you don't have to count calories. Just start with basic, good food, eat only until you feel full, and your belt will soon be too large too.

Black Forest Trifle

1 recipe flourless chocolate cake, made and broken into pieces

1 cup heavy cream, whipped and touched with vanilla and cinnamon

1 cup frozen IQF (individually quick frozen with NO juice) cherries

85% bittersweet chocolate to shave over the top


The assembly is past easy. Make the cake. Cool it and then layer the pieces with whipped cream and cherries in parfait glasses. Serve at once to dazzled diners.

7 oz bar 85% bittersweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar substitute (Splenda for baking)
4 large eggs, separated

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Line the bottom of a 9 in springform pam with parchment and butter it.
3. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it with butter over hot water.
4. Beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar substitute.
5. Fold in the melted butter and chocolate mixture.
6. Beat egg whites until frothy by using an electric mixer; gradually add the remaining sugar substitute, beating until stiff peaks form.
7. Fold in the beaten egg whites.
8. Bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 40 minutes. Please note that cakes of this type will collapse and look like a pie because no flour is used.
9. Meanwhile, whip cream with a touch of cinnamon and vanilla.
10. Defrost cherries.
11. To assemble, layer cream, cherries and cake in parfait glasses. Top with cream and shave chocolate on top. Yum