Mixed Berry Couscous Cake

It looks pretty tasty, right?
WRONG.
I've held off on posting this recipe because it weirded me out so much. The pictures make it look so good but it was so not good.

The good part is I now have a springform pan. Now I can make cheesecake. It starts off making couscous but with apple juice and maple syrup for sweetness. It looks pretty good, but I was a little afraid to taste it.

Then you heat more maple syrup and something called Agar powder in a pan and coat the berries with it. The berries look really good by themselves. What a waste.

By the way, Agar powder costs almost $90 per pound. That's correct. Ninety dollars. This is about 4 tablespoons and it cost $6.30.

Then you pour the berries and their agar-powder sauce over the couscous,

chill for several hours, and this is what you come up with:
Notice the gelatinous stuff around the edges. The berries are coated with it. Agar powder is a natural thickener like gelatin but made out of seaweed or something. I was hesitant the next morning, but I decided to go for it. I cut a nice hunk out, put it on a plate, and proceeded to choke down several bites before giving up.

The texture of the berries was too much for me- somewhere between cooked and fresh. The fact that it was cold, sweet couscous sealed the deal for me. Bean woke up and tried a couple of bites and agreed. Neither of us wanted to touch it so it sat on the counter for a day or two before we put it down the disposal.

This was a sad day. All that agar powder wasted! All of those beautiful berries I really wanted to eat fresh! I don't think anyone will want this recipe so I won't go through the trouble. If you do want to give it a go, leave me a comment and I'll send you the recipe.