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Two weird recipes
I made gluten-free vegan chocolate beet cake for Leif's birthday, following basically this recipe, with finely ground cornmeal + 1/4 cup ground flax seed in place of the flour.
1 large beet (I think I used 1 can, but possibly 2. Drain and reserve the liquid)
unsweetened apple sauce (I didn't need it)
2 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar (I think I actually used less than that - the beets add to the sweetness)
1 tbsp. cornstarch (I didn't include this)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Peel and dice one large beet. Place the pieces in a saucepan with water to cover and boil until soft. Allow the beets to cool, and then drain them, reserving the red water for another purpose.
Or just used canned beets. Put the drained beets into the food processor with 1/4 cup (clear) water, and process until pureed.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Oil or spray your cooking pan(s).
Put the pureed beets into a 2-cup measure. Add enough apple sauce to reach the 2-cup line. Add the 2 tablespoons water, vanilla extract, and apple cider to the beets and mix well.
Mix the dry ingredients together; then add the beet mixture and stir until well-combined. Bake for 35-60 minutes, depending on the size of pan you use: more for small, deep pans and less for a 9X13 pan. (I used a 9X13 pan, and it took 35 minutes.) Test by inserting a toothpick into the center; it's done when the toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.
I used my favorite frosting recipe, made with the reserved liquid from the beets in place of water, and thought it worked out great.
Leif liked it. Most of the adults seemed to like it. Some of the kids did, and some didn't. I have a feeling the problem was the cornmeal, not the beets (which are not really detectable). I thought it tasted better the next day, after being refrigerated overnight.
Today I made black bean brownies following this recipe.
* 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
* 3 eggs
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup cocoa powder
* 1 pinch salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
* 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
2. Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.
They passed the Mariel taste test, which is the gold standard around here! Even though she doesn't like beans!
Some people claim to not be able to taste the beans at all. It may depend a lot on the quality of the cocoa used. Personally, I could taste the beans, but I don't know if I'd be able to identify the flavor as beanie if I didn't already know they were there (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
koyote didn't guess before I told him). I would not recommend telling unadventerous people about the secret ingredient before they try them, and perhaps not even after they try them if they're unusually picky or adversive to beans.
I think the coffee is probably pretty necessary as a flavor enhancer for the cocoa/cover for the beans. A tablespoon or two of brewed coffee would probably work as well as the instant. They do not come out coffee flavored at all. If you do want them coffee flavored, another teaspoon or two of the instant coffee would probably do the trick. The chocolate chips would probably go a long way towards providing distraction from any unusual flavor/texture, but I didn't have any, so I didn't try that. Something like peanut butter would probably work with it, too.
I read a comment claiming these were better after being refrigerated for a while, and having tried them straight out of the oven, non-refrigerated, and refrigerated, I'm inclined to agree.
I'm inclined to go mad scientist and try substituting pureed apple (or beets!) for at least part of the oil, just to see how it turns out. It seems to me that it would work well taste-wise, assuming they bake up ok. Some ground flax seed might help them hold together a bit better.
1 large beet (I think I used 1 can, but possibly 2. Drain and reserve the liquid)
unsweetened apple sauce (I didn't need it)
2 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar (I think I actually used less than that - the beets add to the sweetness)
1 tbsp. cornstarch (I didn't include this)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Peel and dice one large beet. Place the pieces in a saucepan with water to cover and boil until soft. Allow the beets to cool, and then drain them, reserving the red water for another purpose.
Or just used canned beets. Put the drained beets into the food processor with 1/4 cup (clear) water, and process until pureed.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Oil or spray your cooking pan(s).
Put the pureed beets into a 2-cup measure. Add enough apple sauce to reach the 2-cup line. Add the 2 tablespoons water, vanilla extract, and apple cider to the beets and mix well.
Mix the dry ingredients together; then add the beet mixture and stir until well-combined. Bake for 35-60 minutes, depending on the size of pan you use: more for small, deep pans and less for a 9X13 pan. (I used a 9X13 pan, and it took 35 minutes.) Test by inserting a toothpick into the center; it's done when the toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.
I used my favorite frosting recipe, made with the reserved liquid from the beets in place of water, and thought it worked out great.
Leif liked it. Most of the adults seemed to like it. Some of the kids did, and some didn't. I have a feeling the problem was the cornmeal, not the beets (which are not really detectable). I thought it tasted better the next day, after being refrigerated overnight.
Today I made black bean brownies following this recipe.
* 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
* 3 eggs
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup cocoa powder
* 1 pinch salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
* 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
2. Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.
They passed the Mariel taste test, which is the gold standard around here! Even though she doesn't like beans!
Some people claim to not be able to taste the beans at all. It may depend a lot on the quality of the cocoa used. Personally, I could taste the beans, but I don't know if I'd be able to identify the flavor as beanie if I didn't already know they were there (
koyote didn't guess before I told him). I would not recommend telling unadventerous people about the secret ingredient before they try them, and perhaps not even after they try them if they're unusually picky or adversive to beans.I think the coffee is probably pretty necessary as a flavor enhancer for the cocoa/cover for the beans. A tablespoon or two of brewed coffee would probably work as well as the instant. They do not come out coffee flavored at all. If you do want them coffee flavored, another teaspoon or two of the instant coffee would probably do the trick. The chocolate chips would probably go a long way towards providing distraction from any unusual flavor/texture, but I didn't have any, so I didn't try that. Something like peanut butter would probably work with it, too.
I read a comment claiming these were better after being refrigerated for a while, and having tried them straight out of the oven, non-refrigerated, and refrigerated, I'm inclined to agree.
I'm inclined to go mad scientist and try substituting pureed apple (or beets!) for at least part of the oil, just to see how it turns out. It seems to me that it would work well taste-wise, assuming they bake up ok. Some ground flax seed might help them hold together a bit better.
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