Vegetables and Cakes

[smallfrog]

I my day job i work as a cake decorator and i'm off to Selfrdiges in a bit to hand cake and make people smile.

I was doing my thang yesturday and notice a competitor had just launched a new range of cupcakes. called "petit pois" There cakes are gulten free, and low cal. (I know where's the fun in that.) They use vegetable to help keep the cakes moist but they don't really add any flavour to them. The orange has pumpkin and the lemon using courgette. They are lovely!!!

So i was wondering anyone else use veg in cakes to add flavour moisture and if so could you post a recipe. I know HFW does a beetroot Brownie and i've made a beetroot carrot cake. I'll post recipe later tonight. But what about courgette and lime? Parsnip and ??. Wasn't there a Chocolate mashed potato cake around once. Any recomendations?

[Nicos]

I'd be thinking of sweet potatoes, pumpkin,butternut squash, beetroot,,parsnip, radish, salsify, JA's,turnip/swede as well as courgettes,carrots or potato for moisture...then use spices like chilli ,cardamon,cinnamon, nutmeg,sumak ( lemon flavour).
I'd try and look at spices from other countries rather than just going for fruit flavours.

Sorrel tastes lemony...how about nettle tips, elderflowers????

Look up some old country recipes from abroad too...and tweek some war recipes
In that way it'd be very different to the competition.

ooo...I can see a mega baking session coming on!!!!!

[smallfrog]

My place won't compete with them, well they might, were more aout them looking pretty etc. Than gluton, organic and fat free but you never know.
I'm still interested in the veg into baking though mainly cos i'm a keen cook and try and gro some veg.
I never thought of war recipes they'd be low in sugar so adding carrot, squash would add some sweetest to.

[Hilary B]

I have been experimenting with sweet potatoes as a cake 'major ingredient'. Orange and sweet potato mark 3 is due to be made this afternoon, but won't be sampled until tomorrow. Uses less suga and fat than a 'normal' Victoria sponge cake, and the first 2 attempts were quite acceptable, but I think the next will be better!

[gan heather]

I make a delicious chocolate zucchini cake/bread and sweet potato/pumpkin muffins. The former doesn't have any veg flavor, but is really moist and the latter does have a sweet potato taste.

[Comfreyfan]

I made courgette muffins - absolutely awful, the family still tease me about my vegetable cakes! I didn't think they were that bad, but they assure me they were

[Hilary B]

Sweet potato and orange cake works great. I think parsnip and lemon might be good as well. May try that next time there are cheap parsnips, if it works, I'll let you know!

[Ellie Sprout]

sprout cake - don't go there

I love brussels sprouts - so much so that I have a blog for lovers of brussels sprouts.

HOWEVER I cannot recommend Felice Tocchini's sprout cake - as you can see from my log of the experience of making it and force-feeding it to my flatmates:

On the other hand - carrot cake excellent. Mashed potato in chocolate cake (a la Delia Smith) - ok but not that great. On a slightly different note (still the weird ingredients though) - mayonnaise in brownies. EXCELLENT.

[chris]

My wife makes beetroot cake (as opposed to carrot), which is really nice moist, and pink inside

Also puts courgette in chocolate cake, I've made a really nice spiced pumpkin cake, which I posted in the recipe section.

As above, we've also made the mashed potato chocolate cake, and that was moist.. slightly different texture, but I quite liked it

[Flummery]

Carrots and courgettes are standard - they add moisture without flavour. Somewhere I have a chocolate courgette cake recipe which is lovely. Mashed potato also adds moisture. I'm sure you can google these.

[Hilary B]

The parsnip-and-lemon worked nicely.

[binley100]

Parsnip and walnut cake works very nicely .......BNS and orange (you can substitute pumpkin for the BNS) .......Beetroot and chocolate has to be the best chocolate cake going .......courgette cake is good too and also courgette and chocolate ....I am a fan of cakes with added veg cos it's the only way I can get my youngest to eat veg that isn't carrots or cabbage. oh and btw if you want to reduce fat content , substitute with prune puree which also means you can cut down on the amount of sugar as prunes are naturally sweet.

[Dane End Dolly]

I am sure that i have posted a recipe for parsnip and maple syrup cake....lush and a chocolate courgette cake also very lush. if you cannot find it (or if i only thought i had posted it) please let me know and i can send you or post again the recipes

Kx