Thursday 18 August 2011

Vegetable Cupcakes; a mis-cabbage of justice?

Last week I learned of a Ms Harry Eastwood; a healthy living advocate and cake fanatic, committed to a new-fangled merriment between baking and vegetables. Needless to say I was intrigued, if not somewhat sceptical.



With no mention of utterly butterly, xylitol or the dreaded one cal cooking sprays, ‘Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache’ (Eastwood’s latest cookery book) proposes imaginative cooking methods and substitutions, in order to produce great-tasting and healthier cakes with completely natural ingredients.

How is this possible you may ask? Well simple; by ‘borrowing’ structures from vegetables of course.
Nope. Not a typo… that’s really how she does it. By categorising vegetables in terms of textures, flavour and water content, Eastwood has cleverly (and rather scientifically) made her replacements by removing offending staples, and matching recipes to veggies, deemed to offer similar qualities.

So, to the all important question… does it work?
Can courgettes and aubergines really form part of a baker’s repertoire, or has Eastwood lost the (vegetable) plot?

As the old adage goes, the proof is in the pudding, and since this weekend my schedule is pathetically vacant, I thought I’d road test some of Harry’s veggie delights.

With cake decorating kit at the ready, (yes even skinny girls bake) and with butters and self raising flours firmly out of view, The Scoffing Cow turned her manicured hoofs to Cupcakes.

Scoffettes, for your viewing pleasure, I proudly present to you (my attempt at recreating) four alternative cupcakes recipes, courtesy of ‘Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache.’