I received an email this morning from the Green Smoothie Girl… with a recipe that I hesitated to try.  But, as I happened to have the key ingredient on hand (and no other way I could fathom to use them) I decided to give it a try.

And what was this key ingredient?

Beets.

Beautifully vibrant red, but a vegetable that is often avoided by the masses – myself included.

However, it is also something that is purported to be exceedingly healthy for you, and something that shows up at farmer’s markets and CSA farms with regularity.

And I am pleased to say that this chocolate beet cake was a raging success.  The kids liked it.  The hubby liked it, and I (even knowing what was inside it) liked it.  Quite a bit too.

The kids even got past the “Yuck!  You put BEETS in this?” factor to nearly lick the plate clean!

So, here is the recipe for a very moist, very delish chocolate cake.

Chocolate Beet Cake

• 3 eggs (organic, free range) or 9 Tbsp. water with 3 Tbsp. chia soaked in it
• 1 1/2 cups unrefined coconut sugar
• 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup pureed, steamed beets (about 3-4 medium size)
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa (non-alkalized) or raw powdered chocolate
• 2 cups finely ground whole-wheat flour (soft white wheat is best)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Puree beets (cut up and steamed about 15 min.) in a VitaMix or BlendTec untill you have 1-3/4 cups. Add eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add chocolate and other dry ingredients, and mix until combined. Bake in 9″x13″ greased pan at 350 degrees for 30 min.

Fudge Frosting

• 1 cup unsweetened non-alkalized cocoa or raw powdered chocolate
• 2 cups coconut cream concentrate (soft, room temp or slightly warmed)
• 2 cups coconut sugar, blended in dry blender container until “powdered”
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup warm water (to make it spreadable)

Cream together by hand until smooth. This frosts a 9″x13″ cake and leaves some extra for a treat.

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My changes:

I used gluten-free baking mix instead of the white flour.  It worked quite well, but the crumb was a bit larger than a fine white flour would have been.  Although I can’t imagine it much more moist!

I didn’t have coconut sugar (in fact, I had never heard of it before today!) so I used evaporated cane juice sugar in it’s place. For the frosting I just used powdered sugar.

I used an extra dark cocoa powder, which made it a bit more rich and dark than normal cocoa powder would have.

I added a touch of coconut oil to the coconut cream in the frosting, as my coconut cream had most of it’s oil removed a couple of days ago.

I baked it in two 9-inch round cake pans instead of a 9×13.  Then I made it into a layer cake.

When I bake it again – because it is very much worth baking again – I will most likely add a layer of whipped cream in the middle between the layers.  We added a dollop on top to help cut the richness, but I think a layer in the middle would be very good.

ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp water
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped fine

Cream butter & sugar, then mix in water and vanilla.  Add the flour and chopped nuts.

Chill 4 hours in fridge.

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Watch them the last couple of minutes to make sure they don’t burn.

Take them out of the oven and drop them into a bowl of powdered sugar while they are still warm.  Set out to cool.

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We had a baking frenzy on Saturday to get the treat boxes ready to take with us to church on Sunday, and these were the favorite of those that we baked.  They take a little longer to bake than most of the others, but the extra time is worth it!  These are the cookies that Grandmas, Nanas and Babushkas all over used to bake, and they are soooooooo good.

I ended up rolling them slightly smaller so the dough would go further, and I actually like them that way – just enough for a taste, but not so much that you feel like you might overdo it if you eat two…

• 2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or allspice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup light brown cane sugar
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 3 egg equivalent in Ener-G egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup vegetable oil**

• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 can (about 14 oz) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup shredded coconut

• nuts and raisins optional

Faux Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 8 oz package of vegan cream cheese
• 1/3 cup vegan soy margarine (like Earth Balance), softened.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups vegan confectioners sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, spice, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer combine sugar and egg replacer until creamy.  Add vanilla, then add vegetable oil or applesauce.

Mix wet and dry ingredients together and add carrots, pineapple, and coconut.

Grease pan. Smooth batter into pan. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Be sure to let the cake adequately cool before frosting.

For a thicker cake, use a 9×9 glass pan. For a thinner cake with more servings, use a 13×9.  You can also make them in a cupcake pan or 2 loaf pans.

Faux Cream Cheese Frosting recipe:

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and margarine. Add vanilla, then add sugar.

This entire recipe tastes just like the real thing! It just made it last night and it is so delicious!

Makes: 9 servings, Preparation time: 20 minutes, Cooking time: 40 minutes

**Substitutions**

For the egg replacer – I used pineapple juice drained from the pineapple chunks instead of water.  I had it and I thought I’d give the cake an extra boost of flavor.

Again, I don’t use vegetable oil.  I subbed with applesauce as usual.

Since I had a young coconut in the fridge I used that instead of dried shredded coconut.  I just ran it through the shredder with the carrots.  I tried to run the pineapple chunks through as well, but that really didn’t work.  I ended up cutting up the pineapple chunks I had by hand instead.

I accidentally added 3 cups of carrots instead of the 2 called for – I mixed it up with another recipe.  It worked out pretty well though.

I also added 1 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup chopped dried cherries.

I don’t do soy-based cream cheese frosting.  Instead of that I used my trusty old standby Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting – wow, was it tasty!

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I am apparently in a baking mood today – zucchini bread and carrot cake back to back.  That or I’m just hungry   I found this recipe over at VegWeb.com where it was submitted by Tate.  I was looking at both this recipe and this one by Ina Garten so I’m sure that there are places other than just the extra cup of carrots that I merged them but I don’t recall them.

Just so you know, these muffins by no means need the frosting – and they are better for you without it – but what is a good tropical-inspired carrot cake without frosting?  I mean really.

So why did I pick a vegan recipe?  Well, I ran out of eggs but I have scads of egg replacer!  Shhh – don’t tell!

So yeah – that’s my version of this yummy cake!  And I would have to agree, next to the Oregon Farms boxed cake (now Sarah Lee), this is one of the best carrot cakes I have tried yet.  I’m still trying to duplicate that one though!  Yum…

Oh – and the kids LOVE it!

Banana Cream Pudding was one of those treats from childhood that you remember, then forget, then something brings it back to mind.  But oh, what a treat it is!

Last Summer I went to New York to see my youngest cousin graduate from college, and while we were there she took us to one of the many cupcake shops that are popping up.  This one served bananna cream pudding, and it was near perfection.  Just like mom used to make (and I can say that – my mom was there and said it too!)  It is complete with the soft, cakey chunks of cookie inside that remind you of pie crust, only better.

This is a cheater version for those that don’t want to make the pudding from scratch, and it has a little something extra in it… Chocolate!

And no, there isn’t anything about this dessert that is low-fat or healthy (well, except the bananas).  It is a treat, a delicious, cool Summer treat.

Ingredients

• 1-4.6 oz pkg vanilla cook & serve pudding
• 1-3.4 oz pkg chocolate fudge cook & serve pudding
• 5 cups of milk (per box directions)
• 3-5 bananas (depends on how many bananas you like in it)
• Nilla Wafers – just get a box
• 12 oz. heavy whipping cream or whipped cream

Make the pudding according to package directions, combining them while cooking.  While you have someone stirring that prepare your large bowl by dumping in some nilla wafers.  Some people will get fance here – layering the nilla wafers and the pudding so it’s pretty, but since you have to stir it all up later, I don’t bother.  I just dump in a generous mound of cookies about 2 inches tall in the bowl.

When the pudding has reached it’s full boil, pour it over the cookies and stir to make sure there aren’t any air pockets around the cookies – you just want pudding surrounding them!  Chill until set, about 3 hours or so.

When the pudding is set, slice the bananas into it and stir it all together.  Whip the cream until it’s stiff and fold it into the pudding gently.

If desired, garnish with sliced bananas, Nilla wafers and whipped cream.

Enjoy!

I promised a picture of the completed butterfly, and even though I don’t have all of the recipes posted yet, here is the finished cake!

The rundown:

I know, it’s missing the antennae, but we put 7 candles on it… 1 on each of the bottom 5 cupcakes, and 2 on the top one.  Antennae problem solved!

The top right heart is Red Velvet Cake, with a whipped cream cheese and cherry filling (oh yeah).

The top left heart is Swedish Butter Cake with whiped cream cheese and apricot jam filling.

The bottom wings are Fruity Carrot Cake.

The body is made from the Dulce Sin Leche cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The world – an amazing book.  We made these last year, and they were my favorite – even over chocolate cake.  Now that’s sayin’ something!

I’ll get the Swedish Butter recipe posted soon – it’s worth it.  This year, I’m really not sure which is my favorite – they are all very, very good.  The butter cake is similar to a pound cake – add the whipped cream cheese and apricot jam and it’s simply heavenly – but certainly NOT light!

The red velvet is dense… VERY dense (as a good chocolate cake should be) and the cherries gave it a black forest kind of feel.  So good.

The carrot cake was the one that was eaten the most – and most of the guests were ages 8 & under!  They loved it, as did the adults that had some.  Unfortunately, there just isn’t much of that one left.

Next time you are looking for a great cake, pick one of these (or try them all!)  There’s not a bad on in the bunch.

This is one of those cakes… you know, the ones that are reserved for really special occasions because it’s so *not* good for you! And I don’t just mean the food coloring *wink*

Background… the red color originally came from the reaction between cocoa powder and vinegar. And it does still make it somewhat red, but since dutch processed and more alkaline cocoas came on the market, it’s not as bright. What’s a home baker to do? Add food coloring to make it more red. Or add beets… but who wants to do that to chocolate?

I didn’t follow this exactly, because I ran out of food coloring. So I added some red gel coloring as well. It seems to have worked well.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter (OK, shortening if you have to)
• 1-1/2 cups evaporated cane juice (sugar)
• 2 eggs

• 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder – heaping
• 1-1/2 -2 oz. red food coloring

• 1 tsp. salt
• 2-1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk (or kefir)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. vinegar

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 2 9-inch or 3 8-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and butter it. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, beating well.

Make a paste of the cocoa powder and food coloring. If you (like me) bought the small bottle of food coloring, either suffer through a less red cake, go buy another one, or add some gel coloring. Add this paste to the butter mixture.

Combine the salt and flour, and alternate it with the buttermilk and vanilla, making sure that it is well combined.

Sprinkle the baking soda over the vinegar – it will react. Pour this over the batter and stir until thoroughly mixed.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove to cool in the pans on racks. Loosen the sides if necessary, and, laying another rack on top of the pans, flip them over. Remove the pans and parchment paper and allow to completely cool.

The basic recipe calls for a cooked white frosting. Some people like a cream cheese frosting, some like whipped cream. I’m going to try putting a filling of cherries in a whipped cream frosting – sounds delish!

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I was using heart-shaped pans, so I ended up with a little bit of extra batter. So, I baked 2 4-inch round cakes, added a filling and frosted them. We will eat these tonight in honor of my dad’s birthday today. It seemed to take a bit longer to bake these… but eventually the toothpick came out clean. I think it was closer to 40-45 minutes. I’d check them at 25 minutes though, just to be safe!

Again, I combined a bunch of recipes. Most had the same basic ingredients, but some left out the vinegar. Some had more sugar or food coloring, or much less chocolate. I have had red velvet cake that was so dry you needed a glass of milk – I didn’t want that. This has a little less flour and I really heaped the cocoa powder (there’s probably close to 3.5 Tbsp. in these!) because I like chocolate. I know… shocking. I also added a touch more buttermilk for moistness. We’ll keep tweaking it I’m sure. After all, it IS chocolate.

Yes, I am calling this a fruity carrot cake, because it tastes, well, fruity!  It’s also very moist, and very delicious.  It’s also kinda good for you, but I won’t tell if you don’t!

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup almond meal or whole wheat flour (I did a combination)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginge

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup evaporated cane juice
• 1 cup buttermilk (or kefir, if you’ve got it)
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 4 eggs
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extrac

• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 cup (8 oz) drained, crushed pineapple
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped dried cherries
• 1 cup flaked coconut (if desired)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Butter 3 (8-inch) or 2 (9-inch) cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and butter it.  Set aside.

Combine the flours, soda, salt and spices.  Set them aside.  In your mixer bowl, combine the sugars, buttermilk, applesauce, eggs and vanilla.  Mix until well combined.  Add the flour mixture, carrots, fruit and nuts, stirring until just blended.

Pour the batter into the cake pans, spreading to the edges.  Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from oven, and cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes.  Loosen the edges with a knife if necessary.  Lay a second rack on top of the cake pans and flip them over.  Remove the pans and parchment paper.  Allow to cool completely, covering with a towel if needed.

Spread your favorite cream cheese frosting in between the layers and on the top and sides.  A wonderful garnish is to use halved walnuts or pipe on some frosting carrots.

Cover and refrigerate overnight before cutting.

Enjoy

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So, since I was using a food processor to shred the carrots, I also tossed in the cherries and pecans (I didn’t have walnuts on hand).  They came out minced – not quite ground, more than chopped.  It worked really, really well – especially since I have a kid around here who hates nuts.  I personally don’t much like coconut, so I left it out, but since so many people like it, I left it in the recipe.

For the whole wheat flour part, I was pretty much out, so I used almond meal for about 1/2 cup of it, then added the little but of whole wheat that I had and it came out wonderful.  It holds up pretty well to substitutions.

Next time I may try it with kefir instead of buttermilk, because I always have that on hand.  Since I am making a few cakes this week, I bought the buttermilk – it’s also in the Red Velvet Cake.

I combined a few different recipes for this one… I found so many with the same basic ingredients, but I wanted something a little different.  I swapped cherries for the usual raisins and used pecans instead of walnuts (but just because that was what I had on hand).  I wanted to make it a little more healthy without sacrificing taste, so I went 50/50 on the flour.  It seems to have worked.  The pineapple is a must though – so yummy!

Oh come on… you actually thought I’d follow a recipe word for word?  Riiiiight.  Occasionally I do that the first time, but not usually.  After all, where is the fun in that?

This is a wonderful fragrant rice to serve alongside any dish, but especially Indian cooking.

• 1.5 cups basmati rice
• 2 cups water
• 3 cardamom pods
• 2 whole cloves
• 1/2 cinnamon stick (or ground cinnamon)

Wash the rice thoroughly.  Put it into the rice cooker with the water and spices and let it soak for 30+ minutes.  Cook it until the water has all evaporated off.

That was easy.

If you want rice pudding, however, keep some of it aside.  In a heavy-bottomed pot warm some heavy cream until it almost begins to curdle.  Add vanilla extract, the rice and some strongly brewed chai.  Boil down until it gets to the consistency you want – some like it thicker, some thinner.  I usually add some dried fruit and slivered almonds to it also.  Golden raisins are good, as are cranberries or cherries.

Ta-da – dessert is served as well!

• 1.5 cups melted clarified butter
• 1/2 cup oil
• 40 leaves phillo dough
• 4 cups finely ground nuts – your preference
• cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, etc to taste
• 1.5 cups evaporated cane juice (sugar)
• 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 Tbsp brown rice syrup or honey

Mix butter and oil.  Cut dough to the shape of the baking pan by laying the pan on top of the stacked dough and cutting off excess.

Combine the finely ground nuts with spices.

Butter the inside of the baking dish.  Gently place one leaf of dough into the pan, fitting it carefully along the bottom of the pan (the dough is very fragile, so fold them to pick up and unfold them into the pan).  Brush with butter and oil mixture.  Continue placing sheets of phillo one at a time, buttering each one, up to 10 sheets.

Sprinkle 3 Tbsp of nut mixture on the tenth leaf.  Open 2 more sheets of dough on top of nuts, buttering each.  Repeat with the nut mixture and two more sheets until all are used up.  As soon as the last 2 sheets are used, brush with butter and oil.

With a very sharp knife, lightly score the top of the pastry lengthwise into four then draw the knife across diagonally to make diamond-shapes.  Bake at 325F for 90 minutes.

Combine the lemon, syrup and sugar in a saucepan.  Cook until the sugar dissolves.  Boil for 5 minutes, or until a drop forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water.  Remove from heat and stir water into syrup.  Cool.

When the pastry is baked, remove from oven and pour the syrup over it.  Cool to room temp and serve.

If you aren’t Norwegian – or know someone who is – you may have never heard of lefse, but if you have, you know that this is a tasty treat that goes with both sweet and savory.

Lefse can best be described as a Norwegian flat bread, not unlike tortillas. It is often made with potatoes, but not always.

There are only two warnings… it takes all day long to make it, and it usually disappears quickly (especially if there are any Norwegians hanging around) but if you hide it in time it does freeze well.

Without further ado… a small collection of lefse recipes for you to choose from.

Potato-Free Lefse

• 1.5 quarts sour cream (3 lbs.) (4 cups =1 qt)
• 2 quarts buttermilk
• 1 lb. butter
• 4 tsp. baking soda
• 2.5 cups sugar
• 6 whole eggs
• 6 egg yolks
• 3 tsp. salt
• 15 lbs flour – 10 lbs for dough, 5 lbs for rolling

Melt butter while mixing wet ingredients except eggs. Mix some flour with the butter to keep it from curdling.

Combine the salt, soda and sugar and beat into the eggs.

Mix everything together.

Take a piece of dough and roll it out on a floured surface into a large circle that will fit onto your griddle, rolling it as thin as possible. Bake on a griddle over medium heat until light brown, turning frequently to prevent scorching. Stack them between clean cloths to keep them from drying out.

*Courtesy of Lee Oswald

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Potato Lefse

• 5 large potatoes
• 1/2 cup sweet cream
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• flour to roll thin

Boil potatoes and mash very fine (a ricer works well) and add cream, butter and salt. Beat until light and let cool. Add flour. Take a piece of dough and roll out into a circle like pie crust, making sure to roll it as thinly as possible. Bake on a griddle until light brown, turning frequently to prevent scorching. When baked, place between clean cloths to keep them from drying out.

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Krina Lefse

Step one:

• 3 large sifters of flour (about 5 cups in each sifter)
• 1 cup melted shortening
• 4 cups fine graham flour

Combine the above ingredients with lukewarm water, adding just enough so dough can be rolled out farily thin. Roll out as for other lefse, but bake on one side only until a very light brown. This makes a large quantity – about 36 large round lefse.

Step two:

When lefse are all baked, prepare the following mixture.

• 1 cup dark syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. melted butter
• 2 egg whites
• flour to make a fairly thick batter

Beat eggs & combine with the other ingredients. Spread over each lefse with a spatula. Spread lefse one at a time and bake in a hot oven for a few minutes, just enough to brown slightly around the edges. Bake on one side only.

Pile lefse with coated sides together, and put a weight on top of them until they are cold. Then remove the weight and sprinkle a little water over lefse to keep them from breaking.

Put them away – keeping coated sides apart to prevent sticking.

These lefse will keep indefinitely if kept in a dry place.

When ready to use, hold each lefse under cold water, letting water fun over both sides, then place between clean cloths until soft enough to use. They may have to be soaked twice. When soft, spread with butter, sugar and cinnamon. Put 2 lefse together and cut wedge shaped like a pie.

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Swedish Flat Bread

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sweet milk
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1.5 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup flour for rolling

Cream the butter and sugar together. Combine dry ingredients, making sure to break up any chunks in the baking powder and soda. Beat the eggs into the milk. Combine everything together to form a dough ball.

Roll small pieces of dough very thinly into circles. Bake quickly on a griddle over medium-high heat.

*our friend John’s Grandma’s recipe

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As you can see, there are many variations to the basic recipe, but they are all wonderful. Our favorite ways to eat them around here are with butter, cinnamon and sugar, or with lingonberry jam. They also pair well with savory dishes as a bread to sop up juices.

I haven’t tried to make a healthier version yet, but I would think that you could use coconut oil in place of the shortening or butter in these – if you got the version that tastes like coconut it would be unexpected, but very good. You should also be able to replace the cream or buttermilk with coconut cream or kefir. If you use a recipe that doesn’t use eggs, it would be very easy to make it vegan.

Each recipe makes a goodly sized batch, so wrap some of it in plastic wrap and freeze it. Just take it out and set it on the counter to thaw. You can also refrigerate it to keep it longer. I find though that if I don’t freeze some right away, it tends to get put away into bellies rather quickly.

Enjoy!