Animeals – Cake Cake Cake

It’s that time again to step into the Zoo’s Diet Kitchen with Chef Yohn for another Animeals recipe walkthrough! Chef Yohn must have had a craving for some “dessert”, because he decided to make cakes for Haddie the tapir, and meerkats Hardy, Nub and Tim.

Zoo animals don’t eat the type of cake that humans do, so Chef Yohn improvised using the typical fruits and vegetables found on the tapir and suricata, or meerkat, nutrition sheet. Haddie’s cake is made to satisfy her daily food intake of a mix of produce including sweet potatoes, carrots, apples and bananas. The broccoli is a special treat since it is apparently her favorite food! The meerkats’ cakes satisfy their daily food intake of meal worms, fruits, vegetables and protein.

Haddie cake, haddie cake, tapir’s flan

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 sweet potato

• 1 banana

• 1 apple

• 1 butternut squash

• broccoli florets

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1: Peel the squash.

Step 2: Cut the squash into chunks and remove the seeds.

Step 3: Steam the squash for 40 minutes.

Step 4: Cut sweet potato into a cube-like shape, then cut it into thick slices.

Step 5: Peel the banana, slice it and add it to the cooked squash.

Step 6: Mash the squash and banana together using a masher. Reserve 1/3 of the mash for next recipe.

Step 7: Cut the apple into thin slices.

Step 8: Layer sweet potato, mash and apple multiple times, with mash ending on top.

Step 9: Add broccoli florets for garnish.

Step 10: Enjoy!

Suricata cakes

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 eggs

• 1 yolk

• reserved butternut squash and banana mash

• piping bag or Ziploc sandwich bag

• 9 meal worms

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1: Boil the eggs for approximately 15 minutes.

Step 2: Remove the shell from the eggs.

Step 3: Cut the eggs in half to remove the yolks. Save one yolk and set aside.

Step 4: Using the reserved butternut squash and banana mash from our previous recipe, fill a piping bag half way or turn a Ziploc bag into a piping bag and fill half way.

Step 5: Place yolk in bag with mash and squeeze to break it up into the mash.

Step 6: Place two meal worms into each egg half.

Step 7: Squeeze the mash into three egg white halves.

Step 8: Top with one more meal worm on each egg half.

Step 9: Serve to the meerkats!

You can now have your cake and eat it, too, but Chef Yohn doesn’t recommend eating meal worms. Stay tuned for the next Animeals!