Garden Cake–A Favorite!

Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s still cake and you need to watch your portion size and limit how often you make this. That said, it’s chock-full of veggies and is moist and absolutely delicious!

Garden Cake

This delicious cake is full of vegetables.

Serves 12

1/2 cup walnut oil

1/2 cup applesauce

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup raw grated carrots

1 cup raw grated zucchini

1/2 cup raw grated beets

1 cup chocolate chips, optional

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 X 13″ pan.

In a large bowl mix the oil, eggs and sugar, beating well with a hand mixer or whisk for 3-4 minutes.

Wash the vegetables well, but there is no need to peel any of them. Grate all the vegetables and set aside. Place the beets in a separate bowl so the other veggies don’t turn pink.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir into wet ingredients.

Add shredded carrots, zucchini, beets, chocolate chips and walnuts. Stir until blended and pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

 

How About a Fruit Salad Contest?

Doesn’t this beautiful photograph of fruit make you want a fruit salad…right now? When it’s a hot day, and you don’t want to heat up the kitchen in the morning, place a lot of fruit on the kitchen counter, and let your kids have at it! Wash the fruit, cut up when necessary, and then the fun part, of making a bowl gorgeous! Perhaps offer a prize for the prettiest? Consider too saving some fruit and later in the day, place in a mason jar and cover with mineral water.

Perfect!

Homemade Pasta

It’s so much fun teaching a bunch of thirteen year-old girls at a birthday party! The request by the birthday girl was to learn to make homemade pasta, and ice cream sandwiches.

The birthday girl didn’t consume dairy as she was aware that dairy made her allergies worse. Pretty great that she was able to listen to her body and figure out this connection.

Fresh Pasta

By Patty James
Makes about 1 pound.

3 cups unbleached or whole-wheat pastry flour plus additional for dusting
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 to 3 tablespoons water

Special equipment: a pasta machine (or you may roll out by hand on a lightly floured board)

To make dough in a processor:
Blend flour, eggs, salt, and 2 tablespoons water in a food processor until mixture just begins to form a ball, adding more water, drop by drop, if dough is too dry (dough should be firm and not sticky). Process dough for 15 seconds more to knead it. Transfer to a floured surface and let stand, covered with an inverted bowl, 1 hour to let the gluten relax and make rolling easier.

To make dough by hand:
Mound flour on a work surface, preferably wooden, and make a well in center. Add eggs, salt, and 2 tablespoons water to well. With a fork, gently beat eggs and water until combined. Gradually stir in enough flour to form a paste, pulling in flour closest to egg mixture and being careful not to make an opening in outer wall of well. Knead remaining flour into mixture with your hands to form a dough, adding more water drop by drop if dough is too dry (dough should be firm and not sticky). Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Cover with an inverted bowl and let stand 1 hour to let the gluten relax and make rolling easier.

Roll pasta:
Divide dough into 8 pieces, then flatten each piece into a rough rectangle and cover rectangles with an inverted large bowl. Set rollers of pasta machine on widest setting.

Lightly dust 1 rectangle with flour and feed through rollers. (Keep remaining rectangles under bowl.) Fold rectangle in half and feed it, folded end first, through rollers 7 or 8 more times, folding it in half each time and feeding folded end through. Dust with flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed dough through rollers without folding. Continue to feed dough through rollers once at each setting, without folding, until you reach narrowest setting. Dough will be a smooth sheet (about 36 inches long and 4 inches wide). Cut sheet crosswise in half. Lay sheets of dough on lightly floured baking sheets to dry until leathery but still pliable, about 15 minutes. (Alternatively, lightly dust pasta sheets with flour and hang over the backs of straight-backed chairs to dry.) Roll out remaining pieces of dough in same manner.

• Dough can be made (but not rolled out) 4 hours ahead and chilled, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. • Fresh-cut pasta sheets can be chilled in large sealed plastic bags up to 12 hours.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

We made ice cream sandwiches using this recipe with the butter substitute since the birthday girl couldn’t have dairy. After the cookies were cooled, we used coconut milk ice cream. They were a big hit!

  • 1 1/2 cups non-refined sugar
  • 1 cup butter or butter substitute (non-hydrogenated)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose or whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons non-refined sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix 1 1/2 c. sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, and soda. Chill dough. Roll dough into balls the size of walnuts. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Roll cookies in this mixture and bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.

Note: If you use a butter substitute such as EarthBalance the cooking time is increased to about 15 minutes.

 

 

IMG_8424 IMG_8422 IMG_8426 IMG_8432 MTMI4821

Garden Cake

We all know that kids eat way too much sugar, so at DirectionFive, we encourage healthy eating, with desserts being an occasional treat. When we do have desserts we ‘tweak’ recipes so that they contain healthier ingredients. That said, we don’t beat anyone over the head with a carrot, and kids love to pipe frosting on that beautiful cupcake they made. It’s all about balance.

Garden Cake

This delicious cake is full of vegetables.

Serves 12

1/2 cup walnut oil

1/2 cup applesauce

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup raw grated carrots

1 cup raw grated zucchini

1/2 cup raw grated beets

1 cup chocolate chips, optional

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 X 13″ pan.

In a large bowl mix the oil, eggs and sugar, beating well with a hand mixer or whisk for 3-4 minutes.

Wash the vegetables well, but there is no need to peel any of them. Grate all the vegetables and set aside. Place the beets in a separate bowl so the other veggies don’t turn pink.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir into wet ingredients.

Add shredded carrots, zucchini, beets, chocolate chips and walnuts. Stir until blended and pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pan Sizes and Garden Cake

The importance of pan sizes:

You just made your favorite brownie recipe, which calls for a 9” X 9” pan. If you cook brownies that call for a 9” X 9” pan in a 9” X 13” pan, the batter will be thinly spread across the pan and the brownies will end up more like a cookie. You’ll be disappointed in the results. Pan size is a very important part of baking and cooking.
As an example of how to alter some-not all- recipes; if you are making a cake and it calls for a 11 X 4 1/2 X 2 ¾” pan, which by the below chart is 50 square inches, and you don’t have such a pan, then you can use the 8 X 1 ½ “ round pan as it is the same square inches. Cooking time might have to be adjusted, as a greater surface area would take less time to cook. Pans are measured across the top of the pan between the inside edges.

Square and rectangular pans
7 ¾ X 3 5/8 X 2 ¼”…….28 sq. inches
8 X 8 X 1 ½” ……64 sq. inches
9 X 5 X 2 ¾” ……45 square inches
9 X 9 X 1 ½” …..81 sq. inches
11 X 4 ½ X 2 ¾” …….50 sq. inches
11 X 7 X 1 ½” …..77 sq. inches
13 X 9 X 2” ….117 square inches
15 X 10 X 2”….150 sq. inches
15 ½ X 10 ½ X 1”……163 sq. inches
16 X 5 X 4 “ …..80 sq. inches

Round pans
8 X 1 ½”…….50 sq. inches
9 X 1 ½”……..64 square inches
10 X 1 ½”…….79 square inches

Another note regarding cake pans is that the type of pan it is has an effect on the end result. A glass or enamel pan or pans of a dark color will hold more heat and make for a browner crust. If you have these pans, but do not want the darker crust, you can reduce the heat by 25 degrees, but use the same baking time. If you have shiny metal pans, your crust will be thinner and less brown.

Garden Cake
This delicious cake is full of vegetables and we’ve found it’s a favorite. Dense, gooey and delicious!
Serves 12

1/2 cup walnut oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup raw grated carrots
1 cup raw grated zucchini
1/2 cup raw grated beets
1 cup chocolate chips, optional
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 X 13″ pan.

In a large bowl mix the oil, eggs and sugar, beating well with a hand mixer or whisk for 3-4 minutes.

Wash the vegetables well, but there is no need to peel any of them. Grate all the vegetables and set aside. Place the beets in a separate bowl so the other veggies don’t turn pink.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir into wet ingredients.

Add the shredded carrots, zucchini, beets, chocolate chips and walnuts. Stir until blended and pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.