Cooking

Beet this chocolate cake

Please, help yourself to a slice of this deliciously addictive chocolate cake I baked using my mother’s all-time best-ever recipe... with the addition of a couple of salad ingredients! “What? You’re kidding?” I hear you say. “Where are the veggies?” “Gross, chocolate and spinach should never be eaten together!” Well let me change your mind.

Do you love banana cake, but hate the thought of eating warm banana on its own? Why do some of us have trouble eating warm avocado, let alone warm pineapple? It’s the ideas disguised in our minds that stop us from experimenting with produce beyond the realms we are used to eating it. This includes salad ingredients in chocolate cakes. However did you know that the addition of beets when added to chocolate cake mixture not only provides more nutrients, but actually enriches the colour and enhances the chocolate flavour? The cocoa covers the earthy beet flavour and all you are left with is the sweetness and deep velvet of the salad ingredient. Similarly I’m sure you’ve heard of people adding carrot. Just make sure to grate the carrot as fine as you can so it’s practically a pulp, that’s unless you like the long shreds in your cake. I myself don’t enjoy that texture.

And I’m sure you’ve heard of people using avocado as a substitute for butter in almost everything. Next time you make a chocolate cake, add avocado to your icing for a really thick, rich and healthier concoction. The avocado’s silky texture will leave you with frosting like you’ve never made before and have people guessing what your secret ingredient is. Jump onto the ‘From Paddock to Plate’ Facebook page and see for yourself the suggestions that people have making. Sweet potato and spinach are two other common ingredients that can be found in chocolate cakes, depending on the baker.

So next Sunday afternoon when you pull out the recipe book, think outside the square and experiment with a few salad ingredients. You’ll be surprised with the results! I’d love you to share your cake recipe incorporating salad ingredients here. What other vegetables do you add to your chocolate cake?

Enjoy your salads!Louise.

Join Louise on a journey through the seasons with salad ingredients, old traditions and popular, exotic or unusual vegetables. From Paddock to Plate founder, author, food writer, radio journalist & yoga teacher.