Kate Hackworthy - Veggie Desserts + Cakes: Carrot Cake and Beyond

This book isnt about sneaking vegetables into food or disguising them in cake, but instead celebrating them loud and proud as tasty ingredients and making them as much a part of dessert as they are of any main course.

Im passionate about and inspired by vegetables. These wondrous, nourishing foods that grow all around us are more than salad and much more than something you serve with dinner. They can bring their vitamins, goodness and nutrients to any dish. AndI can wrap them in cake.

Probably the most familiar dessert made with vegetables is carrot cake, and that shows quite clearly that vegetables in desserts dont taste like main-course vegetables they taste like desserts. Plus they bring their health benefits and often give a vibrant colour. Vegetables also bring bulk, moisture, natural sugars and nutrients to desserts and mean that less fat and refined sugar has to be added for successful results. Avocado can make a great substitute for butter, root vegetables bring sweetness and, in some desserts, vegetable pure can replace the eggs. The vegetables also give an amazing texture and moistness, meaning the cakes last for days and still taste great.

Just because were used to having veggies as savoury foods doesnt mean we cant serve them in sweet dishes, too, so its time to whack them out of the ground and onto the cake stand.

I am unashamedly obsessed by vegetables in all of their glorious hues, textures and flavours. I see no reason why veg and baking cant combine to make more virtuous desserts or perhaps that should be more sinful vegetables! To me, adding parsnip to a crumble is as natural as adding an apple. Grating squash into a cake seems just as logical to me as using carrot. Because its sweet, fruit has long been the fresh ingredient added to desserts, but I love the understated sweetness that vegetables can bring. Its now time for vegetables to shine.

Five years ago, coming up to my sons first birthday, I wanted him to have the obligatory birthday cake, but after months of ensuring he ate healthy, fresh foods, I was unsettled about allowing him to indulge in the usual cake. So I started to experiment. After a few trials, his birthday cake was ready: one layer of chocolate and butternut squash cake, and one layer of chocolate beetroot cake, iced with avocado buttercream icing. Now, he might be getting the chocolate and sugar (though less than a normal cake), but at least hed also be getting a few healthy vegetables at the same time. The cake went down a storm with children and parents alike.

From there, my obsession with vegetable desserts quickly grew, and I became more and more intrigued by the alchemy of replacing traditional cake ingredients with nutritious vegetables. After being frequently asked for my recipes, I began to write about my desserts on my blog, www.veggiedesserts.co.uk . My crazy vegetable cakes and bakes obviously arent that crazy after all, and the blog quickly began winning awards and gaining international press to such an extent that people from all over the world began contacting me to say that they loved my vegetable desserts. I hope that you will, too.

Now, get your apron and go eat your veg in cake.

Kate x

On a practical note

Vegetables in this book should be raw, unless specified otherwise.

Although this book is about baking with vegetables, Ive included recipes using beans and fruits, such as avocado and cucumber. Theyre normally used in savoury dishes, so I wanted to show how versatile they are in sweet treats.

Fresh produce can be temperamental. Factors such as freshness and seasonality can affect the colour of the final result, but it should still taste great. Go for the freshest veg you can for a more vibrant colour.

Adding vegetables to cake batter can sometimes make it split, but dont worry as the results will be fine. Just add a tablespoon of flour and gently mix again.

Most of my recipes have a bit of extra vanilla in them. This is a trick that allows you to use less sugar, but keeps the sweetness.

A note on blitzing to get the brightest vegetable colours in a cake, when it calls for pure, youll need to pure it well. I usually use a hand-held blender. Ive had pricey ones and not-so-pricey ones, and Ive found that sometimes the cheapest ones have done the best job of turning veg into a paste. Kale is definitely the most difficult veg to pure as its so fibrous, but persevere for a bright green cake.