Remember when you were little and you used to eat your broccoli first so you could save the food you really liked until the end? Or when you just used to chuck it under the table in the hope your mum wouldn’t see? Luckily we’ve grown up a little bit since then and actually (believe it or not) learned to like our vegetables – although we’ve still got beef with broccoli.
The fact that you can finally stomach a brussel sprout is just as well BTW since vegetables are taking over EVERYTHING this year. Inventor of the Cronut and expert and winner of the great viral food war of 2013 Dominique Ansel told Today.com that he thinks that in 2014, ‘Vegetables will make a big play in the dessert world. There’s always been a fascination mixing sweet and savory, but I think this time around, it’ll be done to harness the sweetness of vegetables rather than slabbing bacon on some chocolate.’
And in case you hadn’t noticed this madness has already started. Earlier this year you couldn't move for vegetable cocktails and now Haagen Daaz has announced that it’s in the process of releasing two new flavours – tomato cherry and carrot orange.
WTactualF.
What's next? Cauliflowers in our cheescakes? Peas in our panacottas? According to veggie dessert blogger Kate Hackworthy however, vegetables in sweet dishes actually don't taste of very much at all, and are even good for you. 'Carrot cake is normal and chocolate beetroot cake is popular, so it isn't really a massive step to include other veg.' She says. 'Once people realise that the vegetables can't be tasted in desserts it all seems less scary. The vegetables replace some of the fat and sugar and add extra nutrients.' So there you go. Perhaps it's time to hop on board the veggie dessert trend after all.
*Here’s a recipe for kale and orange cupcakes that Kate gave us to try out and don't fret; according to Kate, 'the cupcakes don't taste of kale at all.'
Kale and Orange Cupcakes with Orange Icing
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
100g (2 cups, packed) raw kale leaves, woody stalks discarded
150g ( ½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
150g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 orange, zest and juice
200g (1 ½ cups) plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
For the icing:
75g ( 1/3 cup) unsalted butter, softened
250g (2 cups) powdered icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons orange juice
Method
1.Preheat oven to 170C/325F. Line or grease a muffin tray.
For the icing:
Find more veggie dessert recipes over at Kate's blog.
Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.