- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Press (1 Mar 2012)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 059306237X
- ISBN-13: 978-0593062371
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (165 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,818,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache
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More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
The ultimate feel-good book full of delicious and original cake recipes from the star of Cook Yourself Thin
Product Description
Harry Eastwood loves cake: from light, fluffy Victoria Sponge to dark and delicious Forbidden Chocolate Brownies. In Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache, she has fiddled, tweaked and thought outside the box to pioneer a way of bringing exquisite cakes that remain natural and healthy into our everyday lives - by introducing ingredients from the vegetable garden. Ginger Sticky Toffee Pudding made with parsnip, or Orange Squash Cupcakes made with butternut squash are bound to amuse and delight your tastebuds.
In this delightful cookery book, Harry shares her baking secrets and practical knowledge as a cook and as a food writer to prove that it is possible to have your cake and eat it.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
87 of 87 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a beautiful book with beautiful recipes. The cakes, on the whole, are absolutely gorgeous. I cannot stress enough how they do not taste of vegetable at all, as I've sometimes found with other "healthy" cakes. My boyfriend bought me this as a present (clever fellow that he is!) and until I read the introduction neither of us realised it was a "healthy cooking" kind of book. Certainly doesn't taste like it.
Only a couple of cautions (I can't call them faults, the book is too enchanting):
I've tried two chocolate recipes so far (the chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes and chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes) and while they've been perfectly adequate little cakes, I wouldn't say I swooned with the rich chocolatiness of them. You'd have to swathe them in icing to get quite the same hit as you do from, say, some of Nigella's indulgent chocolate recipes. Having said that I am an unreconstructed lover of good old British milk-and-sugar chocolate, so it's possible these recipes are a bit subtle for my palate!
Second point (and I wish someone had told me this when I started making the cakes) is one about timing and ingredients. Harry insists you shouldn't grate the vegetables "until you are about to add them to the mixture." This is all very well, but hard vegetables like potatoes, butternut squash etc can take ten minutes to reduce to a fine shred by hand (she won't let you food process them either), by which time the eggs and sugar you've just whisked have lost a bit of their fluff.
By trial and error I've found that what Harry calls the "woody" vegetables (potatoes, carrots, parsnip, beetroot etc) can be safely grated before you start the whisking. They can cope with sitting for 5 minutes without getting damp. The so-called "water" vegetables (courgette, aubergines etc) can't cope with pre-grating, and do get very soggy (as you'd expect). They have to be grated the minute before you put them in - but on the other hand, they're softer and take far less time than the hard vegetables, so they won't hold you up with the eggs and sugar.
Only a couple of cautions (I can't call them faults, the book is too enchanting):
I've tried two chocolate recipes so far (the chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes and chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes) and while they've been perfectly adequate little cakes, I wouldn't say I swooned with the rich chocolatiness of them. You'd have to swathe them in icing to get quite the same hit as you do from, say, some of Nigella's indulgent chocolate recipes. Having said that I am an unreconstructed lover of good old British milk-and-sugar chocolate, so it's possible these recipes are a bit subtle for my palate!
Second point (and I wish someone had told me this when I started making the cakes) is one about timing and ingredients. Harry insists you shouldn't grate the vegetables "until you are about to add them to the mixture." This is all very well, but hard vegetables like potatoes, butternut squash etc can take ten minutes to reduce to a fine shred by hand (she won't let you food process them either), by which time the eggs and sugar you've just whisked have lost a bit of their fluff.
By trial and error I've found that what Harry calls the "woody" vegetables (potatoes, carrots, parsnip, beetroot etc) can be safely grated before you start the whisking. They can cope with sitting for 5 minutes without getting damp. The so-called "water" vegetables (courgette, aubergines etc) can't cope with pre-grating, and do get very soggy (as you'd expect). They have to be grated the minute before you put them in - but on the other hand, they're softer and take far less time than the hard vegetables, so they won't hold you up with the eggs and sugar.
52 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Harry Eastwood, from the great `cook yourself thin' series and books, has really done something truly incredible with this book. Never have I seen such a barmy list of ingredients going into such glorious looking cakes. It makes me smile to see a simple Victoria sponge now containing grated potato and positively gawk at the thought of beetroot and chocolate fudge or parsnip vanilla fudge. Following Eastwood's method it makes one wonder if parents everywhere have just discovered an ingenious way of getting vegetables into even the most stubborn of children.
Get past the pretty looking cakes and even the unusual ingredients and you will see that what Harry Eastwood has actually done is really rather splendid. This is a book dedicated to the glory of decadent eating but with a clear goal that it shouldn't come at the expense of our waistlines. Harry has cut back on the quantities of sugar and fat used, these are both balanced out by the addition of ground almonds, high in natural fat, and vegetables that help maintain that perfect sponge texture. Plus, nearly all of her recipes are made with a mixture of rice flour and ground almonds, which means that people who are unlucky enough to have wheat intolerances are not missed out in the cake gluttony which follows.
Being a massive Agatha Christie fan, I was thrilled to find a homage to the much lamented seed cake for which Miss Marple requests in the `At Bertram's Hotel' novel. In my slightly nerdy fashion, i had for a time been looking for a good seed cake recipe and can say that this one is truly joyous.
I really am impressed with this book; it covers a lot of cakey issues one might have, dieting and food intolerances or what to do with all those courgettes you've accidently grown and comes up trumps time and again. There are some things in here I never thought I'd see in a cake, but it works. If nothing else, you can at least freak out your friends by telling them they're eating chocolate cake with aubergine in!
Get past the pretty looking cakes and even the unusual ingredients and you will see that what Harry Eastwood has actually done is really rather splendid. This is a book dedicated to the glory of decadent eating but with a clear goal that it shouldn't come at the expense of our waistlines. Harry has cut back on the quantities of sugar and fat used, these are both balanced out by the addition of ground almonds, high in natural fat, and vegetables that help maintain that perfect sponge texture. Plus, nearly all of her recipes are made with a mixture of rice flour and ground almonds, which means that people who are unlucky enough to have wheat intolerances are not missed out in the cake gluttony which follows.
Being a massive Agatha Christie fan, I was thrilled to find a homage to the much lamented seed cake for which Miss Marple requests in the `At Bertram's Hotel' novel. In my slightly nerdy fashion, i had for a time been looking for a good seed cake recipe and can say that this one is truly joyous.
I really am impressed with this book; it covers a lot of cakey issues one might have, dieting and food intolerances or what to do with all those courgettes you've accidently grown and comes up trumps time and again. There are some things in here I never thought I'd see in a cake, but it works. If nothing else, you can at least freak out your friends by telling them they're eating chocolate cake with aubergine in!
50 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I would strongly recommend this book for people who don't eat wheat. The cakes taste like normal cakes but use vegetables instead of wheat.I bought it last week and we had a try at one of the recipes over the weekend. The recipes are easy to follow and have lots of helpful hints.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Yum!!
I have always been terrible at baking, but these cakes have come out perfect and scrumpscious every time. They are very light, moist and especially tasty. Read more
Published 1 month ago by novice baker
good idea but alot of faffing!
Absolutely loved the idea of this book, decided to buy after tasting one of the recipes in here - ashamed to admit that although i leaf through the book most weeks, i always end up... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Nadia
Great recipes and good for gifting
I have made about 10 recipes from this book thus far and have gifted it 3 times. The instructions are easy to follow and the list of ingredients really innovative.
Published 1 month ago by Lyudmila Statnikova
Fantastic book
This book has revolutionised the way I bake: it feels strange if I go back to an old recipe that uses butter instead of vegetables! Read more
Published 3 months ago by MissL
Disappointing Disgusting Cake
I'm always searching for ways to make great tasting but healthy treats so this book was a no brainer. Read more
Published 3 months ago by N. E. Oughton
lovely book great cakes
this is a lovely book, so far all the recipes i have tried have turned out really well, you cannot taste the veg, they are lovely and light and tried to get my frieds to guess the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by carolinejdh
Fabulous recipe's
Great for celiacs or just for families with or without a veg garden! A whole new idea for baking "healthy?" cakes. All come out perfectly every time. Read more
Published 4 months ago by sonic
Lovely recipes, and genuinely something quite different
I bought this book when it was first published in 2009, and have by now attempted the majority of its recipes; of these attempts, all but one have been great successes. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Beanie
Love it
This is a great book, had it on loan for a while from the library, but my best friend bought me one for Christmas. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Peridot
Amazing book especially for gluten free diets
I love this book, this is the third time I have brought it because I keep giving it away. It's fantastic if you're looking for books with lots of gluten free recipes. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Helen Clemo
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