Carrots and ice cream

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Posted at 1:02PM, 13 February 2008 by Jenni Muir - Food writer

In the past week I've enjoyed two dishes pairing carrots and ice cream, and only one of them was a dessert.

At the WinePress restaurant at Donnington Valley hotel, chef Kelvin Johnson was serving a carrot cake topped with a light carrot ice cream. Nice idea. Then down in St Helier, Jersey, Shaun Rankin of the Michelin-starred restaurant and bar Bohemia was offering carrot jelly with a rich, dense goat cheese ice cream - this one was a starter, accompanied by a carrot and tomato salad and, for crunch, a piece of spaghetti coated with sugar and spice. The combination was not as loony as it sounds, certainly not if you like carrot juice. And I'd happily have that goat cheese ice cream again.

We've all heard of carrot cake, of course, but with the campaign to get everyone eating at least five portions of vegetables a day, it's good to see British chefs using them in unexpected ways. Sweetcorn ice cream has a gentle, not-quite-vanilla flavour that's lovely with red fruits and chocolate. In fact fresh sweetcorn is so naturally milky that I'm surprised someone doesn't Tetra-pak it to sell as an alternative to cow's and soya milk.

Root vegetables such as parsnips were one of the main forms of sweetener in medieval Europe, before the use of sugar became widespread, and there are some terrific recipes like this Parsnip Dark Spice Cake recipe that hark back to those days.

Then there's the more contemporary chocolate and beetroot cake, chocolate and zucchini (courgette), and as I've just discovered, carrot and spinach brownies (a step too far? Perhaps not if you've ever had the Italian dish of chocolate and aubergine). With so many chocolate and beetroot cake recipes on the internet now, it would be good to hear if anyone has any particular favourite. Surely it's not just allotment holders who have an enthusiasm for these recipes?

Still, I remember interviewing Eamonn Sweeney of the Blackbird bakeries in Herne Hill and Gypsy Hill last year and asking him about his parsnip cake, which I couldn't see on the shelves. Having worked for years on Martha's Vineyard, he knew how delicious and popular this and the likes of pumpkin and cream cheese muffins were...over there. In south London, he said, he'd often put samples out for tasting to get customers to try it. They all said it was utterly delicious and amazing. Then they'd buy a piece of chocolate cake.

Comments

Caroline

14 February 2008, 12:40PM
Caroline

I never thought I'd say this but I love Beetroot and chocolate cake. As I'm sure others who get one of those veg boxes delivered to their door will agree, you really have to start getting creative after you've received your hundreth beetroot, parsnip, bunch of curly kale etc. Has anyone else got ideas for cooking veg in traditionally sweet dishes?

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Caroline

14 February 2008, 1:54PM
Caroline

I never thought I'd say this but I love Beetroot and chocolate cake. As I'm sure others who get one of those veg boxes delivered to their door will agree, you really have to start getting creative after you've received your hundredth beetroot, parsnip, bunch of curly kale etc. Has anyone else got ideas for cooking veg in traditionally sweet dishes?

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Gregg

17 February 2008, 7:15AM
Gregg

I find it all a bit disturbing. Why consider unusual matching of ingrediants at all, shock value? Is the only reason to use ingredients in an unusual way, the wrong reason to use ingredients ?

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wormus

17 February 2008, 12:24PM
wormus

I was glad to find this article.. We have visitors coming to stay in April, one of whom is allergic to potatoes, dairy, wheat, gluten and sugar (except demarara!) So many "traditional" recipies we all take for granted contain one or more of these ingredients, my cooking expertise is going to be severely challenged... Anyone for salad?

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josie

20 February 2008, 2:26PM
josie

I love experimenting with vegetables, firstly because I do not eat red meat,secondly I love sweets and thirdly I always try to stay in shape. But then on the otherhand I am always after a veggie cake, eg. beetroot,carrot or pumpkin cake. Besides that they are delicous, they are healthy. Would love to see more of the veggie recipes.

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jennie

27 February 2008, 6:21PM
jennie

Pumpkin cake is really delicious

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kiwi

19 March 2008, 9:25AM
kiwi

no way.

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Mrs. Mason-Brown

31 July 2008, 9:03PM
Mrs. Mason-Brown

There is a practical side to using veg in baking as well, as it moistens cake beautifully. Zucchini cake is also really the only way to use those out of control, huge courgettes that have a habit of showing up in the garden no matter how hard you try to keep picking. Also, try boosting the nutrition of what your baking with mashed avocado. No joke. Substitute half of the fat in the recipe with equal weight of avocado, it will turn out even more luscious than just using butter of oil.

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Mrs. Mason-Brown

31 July 2008, 9:03PM
Mrs. Mason-Brown

There is a practical side to using veg in baking as well, as it moistens cake beautifully. Zucchini cake is also really the only way to use those out of control, huge courgettes that have a habit of showing up in the garden no matter how hard you try to keep picking. Also, try boosting the nutrition of what your baking with mashed avocado. No joke. Substitute half of the fat in the recipe with equal weight of avocado, it will turn out even more luscious than just using butter or oil.

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