The Novel Tourist Book Club

Fictional Food Friday: Vegan Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

It’s high time for a novel-inspired culinary adventure.  Vegan Chocolate Beet Cupcakes!  (I know, I know, I was totally skeptical, too … but, trust me on this.) I recently read Digging In, Loretta Nyhan’s new novel about Paige, a widowed mom trying to save both her job and her relationship with her teenage son.  (I really liked Paige and could relate in so many ways having single-handedly raised teenagers while trying to keep things going at the office.) Digging In is full of funny times and sad times,  heartwarming moments and new romance moments. It was my top choice in the 2018 Read & Go Challenge as a novel featuring a garden. It’s an easy read and thoroughly enjoyable – questionable culinary choices aside!

But, let’s talk fictional food.  It is, after all, Fictional Food Friday. Nom nom nom.  One of my favorite scenes in Digging In is when Paige, an advertising executive, is tasked with creating an ad for “vegan chocolate beet root flourless cake.”  When Paige’s boss hands her the product she sees only “a flat, gelatinous circle … weighing as much as a newborn baby.”  Her stomach churns as does her hatred for “Dandelion Girl.” (I, on the other hand, loved Dandelion Girl!)

Can you blame her, though? Have you seen a beet? They are a rather scaly, unattractive veggie. Unfortunately for Paige, she has less than 24 hours.to come up with an effective ad campaign for this “gelatinous goo” (or was it “poo”?) made with beets

I don’t know if it was the bottle or two of Bordeaux or the recipe itself, but Paige quickly changed her mind about the chocolate beet cake!

The vegan flourless cake – dense, chocolaty, delicious – was a marvelous surprise. I didn’t care if it was created from tree sludge and sawdust – it tasted amazing.

– Paige, Digging In

I knew, then, that I just had to set aside my reservations and embark on a culinary adventure involving beet root. Vegan chocolate cake was new to me.  I am not vegan or even vegetarian, although two of my kiddos are vegetarians.  (I personally think the youngest should really just call herself a “non-meat-eater,” since I am pretty sure that in order to qualify as a vegetarian you actually have to eat vegetables….) Anyway, I digress. I asked said daughter if she would like to embark on this culinary adventure with me and join me in the kitchen to make a “chocolate beet root flourless cake.” 

Daughter: “Beet root?”

Me: “Yes, beet root, but with chocolate. Chocolate beet root!”

Daughter: “Mom, that sounds disgusting!”

Me: “But, honey, Paige thought so, too, but then she said it was amazing!”

Daughter: “What? Who’s Paige?”

Me: (Mumbling and heading for the kitchen alone.) “Uh, a friend of mine….”

Okay, so maybe I needed some adult (nonfictional) friends to weigh in on this. I decided to make the beet-filled chocolate gelatinous goo for my upcoming book club meeting. I figured I could give it to the unsuspecting bibliophiles and only after they tasted it, spring the whole beet root thing on them. After all, who in their right mind would knowingly eat something made of tree sludge?

The Quest for Chocolate Beet Cake Recipes

Thanks to the good ‘ole interwebs, finding what I considered a rather quirky recipe was pretty easy. A quick search turned up quite a few options involving beets and chocolate. Did you know there is a whole website devoted to beets? I figured anyone with a lifetime of beet experience could be trusted to nail down the perfect vegan chocolate beet cake, so I went with the one JustBeetIt.com featured. The recipe is for cupcakes and was originally from the Minimalist Baker. Recipe chosen, I jotted down my shopping list and headed to my local food co-op where I was sure I’d find everything I needed.

I picked up stuff like flax meal, almond milk, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, almond meal, gluten-free flour and vegan butter. These were all new additions to my pantry.  With these kind of strange-to-me ingredients, I was beginning to think Paige’s assessment of chocolate beet cake might be accurate.

 The Culinary Adventure: 

The first task in making this questionable beet desert is to roast the beets to make the puree.  Basically, take one big beet like pictured above, slather some oil on it, wrap it in foil and pop it the oven at 400 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour. A butter knife should slide easily through it. Before it cools too much massage the foil to remove the skin. Then, when cool, pop chunks of the beet into the blender with a 1/4 cup of water or orange juice (or, as in my case some cran-raspberry juice – It’s what I had on hand!). Beets turn this amazing shade of red when you roast and puree them.

Next, preheat the oven to 375, line the cupcake pan with a dozen liners then combine the almond milk and the vinegar.  Let the almond milk combo sit for a bit to curdle while you make the “eggs” by combining the flax seed and water.  Let those sit for five minutes. Add the baking soda to the almond milk combo and watch it fizz.. Woo hoo!  

Next, dump the sugar, maple syrup, and almond milk mixture into the flax “eggs” and hand whip them to combine. Add the beet puree, melted coconut oil, and salt and stir it all up together.

Now comes the good stuff.  Add the cocoa powder, almond meal, oat flour, and gluten-free flour blend.  Stir those together and then divide the goop into the 12 muffin pans. I added a couple of vegan chocolate chunks for some extra chocolatey taste. Now, bake for 30 minutes.

My picky teenager tried them and gave a thumbs up! Then, I served them to my unsuspecting book club friends and they were a hit. Like, a serious hit. A home-run even to non-vegan, gluten lovers. You really, really should make these! Paige was not wrong. You’ll have to read Digging In to find out Paige’s fantastic ad campaign.  Enjoy!

Know some book-loving vegans? They’ll thank you for sharing!

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Gluten-free Vegan Chocolate Chunk Beet Cupcakes

Welcome to Fictional Food Friday on The Novel Tourist. Today’s recipe is from Digging In, a new release from Loretta Nyhan. Enjoy!

“The vegan flourless cake – dense, chocolaty, delicious – was a marvelous surprise. I didn’t care if it was created from tree sludge and sawdust – it tasted amazing.”

– Paige, Digging In

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Gluten-free, Vegan

Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

CUPCAKES

• 2 flax eggs 2 Tbsp (9 g flaxseed meal + 5 Tbsp water)
• scant 1/2 cup 115 g Almond Breeze Unsweetened Original Almond Milk
• 3/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp 73 ml maple syrup or agave nectar (sub honey if not vegan)
• 1/3 cup 77 g cane or granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup 63 g melted coconut oil or vegan butter (such as Earth Balance)
• 1 cup ~243 g beet puree (or sub butternut squash, applesauce, or another hearty fruit puree with varied results)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup 60 g unsweetened cocoa powder (if clumpy, sift)
• 1/2 cup 59 g almond meal (finely ground)
• 1/4 cup 25 g gluten-free oat flour
• 3/4 cup 100 g gluten-free flour blend
• 1/2 cup dairy free dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

FROSTING:

• 1/2 cup 120 g Almond Breeze Unsweetened Original Almond Milk
• 1 1/4 cup 230 g dairy free dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup (113 g- vegan butter softened and cut into Tablespoon-sized slices
• 1 1/4 – 2 cups ~150 – 250 g powdered sugar

Instructions

1. The first task is to roast the beets to make the puree.  Basically, take one big beet or (a few little ones) slather some oil on it, wrap it in foil and pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour. A butter knife should slide easily through it. Before it cools too much massage the foil to remove the skin. Then, when cool, pop chunks of the beet into the blender with 1/4 cup of water or orange juice (or, even cran-raspberry juice)

   

2. Next, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, line the cupcake pan with a dozen liners then combine the almond milk and the vinegar.  Let the almond milk combo sit for a bit to curdle while you make the “eggs” by combining the flax seed and water.  Let those sit for five minutes. Add the baking soda to the almond milk combo and watch it fizz.. Woo hoo!

3. Next, dump the sugar, maple syrup, and almond milk mixture into the flax “eggs” and hand whip them to combine. Add the beet puree, melted coconut oil, and salt and stir it all up together.
   

4. Now comes the good stuff.  Add the cocoa powder, almond meal, oat flour, and gluten-free flour blend.  Stir those together and then divide the goop into the 12 muffin pans. I added a couple of vegan chocolate chunks for some extra chocolatey taste. Now, bake for 30 minutes. Wallah!