How To Get One Of Your 5-A-Day From Cake
Readers of this blog will know the by now legendary challenge I have to get enough fruit and veg into the kids. Caitlin has always been reasonably good but Ieuan is proving more stubborn.
Parents will be familiar with the general boredom that sets in when you have to listen to your own, largely ignored lectures about the health benefits of vitamins and minerals on repeat, whilst the kids languidly prod whichever gadget is in reach.
So it is time to explore a new and sneaky way to get veg into them – and happily, the bakers at Blackberry Cottage have a cunning plan.
As they explain, vegetables in cakes have been around for hundreds of years – everyone has heard of carrot cake – but they have designed a whole range of vegetable cakes and tray bakes, as well as a delectable selection of Christmas puddings.
Their cakes have vegetables as the biggest ingredient which allows them to reduce refined sugars and fats. They also use alternative flours such as rice and gram as well as the more traditional ones.
Based in Berkshire, the team bake every day in their artisan kitchen. Blackberry Cottage cakes are hand baked in small batches using home grown or locally sourced supplies – and using eggs from their own chickens.
We were sent a Tea Time Cake Selection to try containing 5 delicious cake portions:-
- Chocolate Sponge with Butternut Squash
- Apricot & Almond with Carrot
- Chocolate Brownie with Sweet Potato
- Fruit Loaf with Parsnip & Lemon Icing
- Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting
We found all of them lovely and moist without being overly sweet. Whilst you can see the vegetables in the cakes, they are not the over-riding taste. This is brilliant because if you didn’t tell your kids what they were eating, I doubt they’d realise they were eating veg!
My favourite was the Chocolate Sponge with Butternut Squash whilst the Husband liked the delicate taste of the Fruit Loaf with Parsnip & Lemon Icing. Caitlin and Ieuan both chose the Chocolate Brownie with Sweet Potato as their favourite.
Enthused with this new method of eating vegetables, Ieuan announced he was now going to eat a Blackberry Cottage brownie every day.
Cakes need to be stored in a cool dry place and you can freeze them too.
We were also sent a Blackberry Cottage Round Christmas Pudding to try. There are four to choose from:-
- Gluten, Dairy, Nut, Egg Free & No Added Refined Sugar (suitable for Vegans)
- Delicious Moist Pudding full of Rum Cask Cider Soaked Fruit (suitable for Vegetarians)
- Traditional Old Recipe with Ale & Carrots (suitable for Vegetarians)
- Delicious Moist Pudding full of Stout Soaked Fruit (suitable for Vegetarians)
Ours was the one full of Rum Cask Cider Soaked Fruit and it was a dense, rich pudding full of spices and surprises such as figs. The kids wolfed theirs down with Caitlin opting for her usual 3 pints of custard.
Although you can steam the pudding (100 minutes), it also microwaves nicely in 3 minutes so that’s what we did and it worked fine.
The cider used in our pudding comes from a local cider maker in West Berkshire using a variety of eating, cooking and crab apples which have been fermented and matured in oak rum barrels.
The pudding we were sent was the 450g size which serves 4 comfortably but there is also a 900g which serves 8 and larger sizes are available.
Our pudding came wrapped in muslin and finished with a pretty ribbon so would make a great gift too. I’m not the only one who would eat Christmas pudding after Christmas, surely?!
If you would like to learn how to incorporate vegetables in cakes, you can even attend one of Blackberry Cottage’s courses or demonstrations.
I have to confess I’m not the only one to discover Blackberry Cottage. They have been featured in Vogue, The Daily Mail, Landlove Magazine, The Daily Telegraph and Healthy Diet Magazine, among others.
You can find out more at www.blackberrycottagefayre.co.uk or email kate@blackberrycottagefayre.co.uk.
Would you like to try vegetables in cakes – you’ll never know, I promise!
Ale and carrot Christmas pudding…could be a game changer ???
chocolate brownie with beetroot
I would so love to try the brownie box 🙂
Chocolate Cake and Brownie Box
The ale and carrot Christmas pudding!
Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting
I’d like to try the Lime Drizzle with Courgette cake.
Carrot cake with vanilla frosting sounds amazing…I LOVE carrot cake!
Ale and carrot xmas pudding sounds good and the carrot cake
Like the sound of the
Chocolate Cake and Brownie Box
Carrot cake with vanilla frosting
Lime drizzle and courgette
The carrot cake with vanilla frosting
Fruit loaf with parsnip and lemon icing
Chocolate brownies!
carrot cake with vanilla frosting
The carrot cake looks sooo good x
The Chocolate Cake and Brownie Box
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the Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting
The chocolate cake with butternut squash, the flapjacks with courgettes and the gorgeous carrot cake with vanilla frosting sound divine
The ale and carrot christmas pudding looks interesting would love to try this
Chocolate brownies with beetroot sound delicious!
love to try the chocolate cake and brownie box
the Apricot & Almond with Carrot Slice
The chocolate cake and brownies look awesome and yummy x
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Chocolate Torte with Aubergine – sounds different and delicious
Wow, these are very different. But CARROT CAKE WITH VANILLA FROSTING and CHOCOLATE BROWNIES WITH SWEET POTATO sounds delicious.
Lemon, Poppy Seed with Sweet Potato Cake
Carrot Cake With Vanilla Frosting
Chocolate Brownies with Beetroot
would love to try the Lemon, Poppy Seed with Sweet Potato cake x
The carrot cake with vanilla frosting sounds delicious
Would love to try Chocolate cake and brownie box.
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Lime Drizzle with courgette
The apricot and almond with carrot sounds nicest to me.
Ooo definitely the fruit loaf with parsnip and lemon icing
Would love to try carrot cake with vanilla frosting!
It has to be the sweet potato brownies for me. I think as well as sneaking veg in for the kids my fiance would also eat it (if I didn’t tell him what was in it) which would be amazing as it’s only of late I have managed to get him to try new things.
Apricot & Almond with Carrot Slice but they all sound & look great.
The Chocolate Brownies with Sweet Potato sound nice.
Lemon Drizzle with Courgette sounds an interesting mix…love to try it !!
Apricot & Almond with Carrot Slice
The chocolate brownies with spinach sounds intriguing xx
The Fruit Loaf with Parsnip and Lemon Icing sounds AMAZING!
The Chocolate Brownie with Beetroot sound amazing!
They all sound amazing! I would love to try the lime drizzle with courgette xx
chocolate brownies with beetroot sound really funky!
I would like to try the Apricot & Almond with Carrot Slice
The carrot cake with vanilla frosting please.
Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting, sounds delicious
Chocolate cake and brownie box looks delicious yummy
chocolate cake and brownie box
Apricot and almond with carrot slice looks so good!
I’d like to try the Mini Christmas Pudding Selection Box
Carrot cake with vanilla frosting is tickling my taste buds. They all sound delicious.!
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Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting sounds really tempting
I’m a wimp, I’d go with what I know, Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting
The Chocolate Cake and Brownie Box looks fantastic :o)
Flapjack with courgette
all of them look nice, but the cake and brownie box would be perfect
Why can’t I have Christmas Pud all year round!
lovely products – would love to try CARROT CAKE WITH VANILLA FROSTING
Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting
Lemon, poppy seed and potato cake – sounds amazing!
The chocolate brownies with spinach definitely! Such a good idea!
The Chocolate Brownies with Sweet Potato sound very unusual. I am sure they would be delicious.
The apricot and almond with carrot slice sounds delicious.
LEMON, POPPY SEED WITH SWEET POTATO
Lemon, Poppy Seed and Sweet Potato cake sounds really good!
Chocolate Brownie with Sweet Potato
Lime Drizzle with Courgette sounds intriguing
The Father’s Day Cake Box looks yummy
Chocolate Torte with Aubergine
For me its the brownie mix
Apricot & Almond with Carrot Slice
There are some really interesting and delicious sounding recipies.
I’d like to try the Lime Drizzle with Courgette
The chocolate cake and brownie box looks lovely as I am partial to being attracted to chocolate cakes.It’s not my fault my brain just takes one look and goes chocolate!
The chocolate brownies with spinach sound really interesting.
carrot cake with vanilla frosting!!
I would love to try either the Chocolate Brownies with Beetroot or the Chocolate Brownies with Sweet Potato.
carrot cakes with vanilla frosting.
Lemon, Poppy Seed with Sweet Potato
carrot cake with vanilla frosting
Chocolate Torte with Aubergine
CARROT CAKE WITH VANILLA
The lemon drizzle with courgette sounds interesting!
Lime drizzle with courgette please
I would love to try the carrot cakes with vanilla frosting. I have not made a carrot cake in years
Ooh, these look intriguing. I’d have to say the chocolate brownie with sweet potato!
Chocolate brownies with beetroot sounds divine x
Chocolate Cake and Brownie Box
Carrot cake with vanilla frosting- im a sucker for carrot cake.
Chocolate brownie with spinach sounds so intriguing.
love to try the chocolate brownies and beetroot, sounds very intresting x
I’d love to try the Chocolate Brownies with Beetroot
Chocolate Brownies with Beetroot
I would like to try all of this especially the chocolate cake and brownie.
The carrot cake with vanilla frosting is the one for me.
The Chocolate Brownies with beetroot look really tasty.
Chocolate brownie with sweet potato sounds yum!
The Lime Drizzle with Courgette….Mouth Watering, actually dribbling writing this blog!
Lemon, Poppy Seed with Sweet Potato sounds nice!
Lime Drizzle with Courgette
Sinnel cake sounds amazing!
Chocolate Brownie with Sweet Potato -sounds lovely
Chocolate Brownies with Sweet Potato x
Parsnip fruit love
I’d like to try any of the Chocolate Brownies, and the Apricot & Almond with Carrot Slice.
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The carrot cake with frosting because I love carrot cake. 🙂
chocolate cake and brownie box
Simnel Cake sounds rather nice
Oh lovely, i would really like to try these carrot cake, my favourite type of cake
The carrot cake with vanilla frosting sounds lovely x
chocolate brownies with beetroot sounds intersting
The Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting!
Simnel cake for me
The Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting.
The Flapjack with courgette.
I think I’d go for the Chocolate Brownies!
I would love to try the chocolate torte with aubergine.
the carrot cake sounds lovely! gotta love carrot cake
Apricot and almond with carrot slice for me
Chocolate cake and brownie box
Chocolate cake and brownie box
Ooooo Chocolate brownies are my absolute weakness lol so would have to say the Brownie Box 🙂 x
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Lemon, Poppy Seed with Sweet Potato
For me it has to be the Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting
Carrot cake and vanilla frosting
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carrot cake with vanilla frosting
The Ale and Carrot Christmas Pudding Traditional Round sounds fab
My little daughter only ever seems to like eating bananas… Other fruit and veg is just a no go as far as she is concerned… But she loves sweet food, so these could be great!
The Chocolate Cake and Brownie Box
I would love to have the carrot cake with vanilla frosting
Chocolate brownies with sweet potato.
Ale and Carrot Christmas Pudding Traditional Round wow!
Carrot cake with vanilla frosting
I adore vegetables in cake it is such a good way of getting those extra nutrients and an excuse to eat cake. Have you tried chocolate beetroot cake? It is so good x
Chocolate brownies with beetroot
Chocolate Brownies with beetroot
The carrot cake with vanilla frosting sounds divine, but to be fair, so do all the other delicacies, so difficult to choose.
Simnel cale sounds intriguing ?
The brownie box
Would love to try the Ale and Carrot Christmas Pudding Traditional Round I love Christmas puddings & this one sounds delicious
Definitely the carrot cake with frosting!
The chocolate cake and brownies.
The Lime drizzle and courgette sounds delicious
the Lime Drizzle with Courgette sounds nice x
the carrot cake for me
Apricot & Almond with Carrot Slice
I would definitely love to try the Apricot & Almond with Carrot Slice.
Lime drizzle
The chocolate brownie with sweet potato sounds very interesting. It’s great you can freeeze them as well. What a great idea to help kids eat more vegetables
Love to try the carrot cake
EEEEEEK gluten free Christmas pud!!! ???
*casually now tries to hide how childishly excited I am to have found a GF Christmas pud option
You had me at carrot cake. I would love to have that, its beyond one of my most favorite things in life!
Oh wow this sounds like such a fab place to visit. What a great way to get fruit and veg into the kid
CHOCOLATE BROWNIES WITH SWEET POTATO
I would never really have thought about vegetable cake. I’d rather keep my vegetables seperate and my cake as cake x
Rum Cask Cider Christmas Pudding Traditional Round
Oo all these cakes sound delicious! I am a big fan on Christmas pudding and this one sound like a real luxury pud (and sounds delicious too!).
Chocolate Cake and Brownie Box
Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting.
The Chocolate Brownies with Beetroot is the one I would like to try
These sound amazing – ale and carrot xmas pud for me 🙂
Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting.
Mini Christmas Pudding Selection Box, perfect x
Apricot & Almond with Carrot Slice for us, please!
The Chocolate Brownies with Spinach sounds interesting.
Chocolate brownies with beetroot sound yummy!
The Chocolate Brownies with Beetroot sound yummy 🙂
Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting would be my choice!
Rum Cask Cider Christmas Pudding Traditional Round
The carrot cake with vanilla frosting looks delicious!
I’d love to try the flapjacks with courgette
Lime Drizzle with Courgette sounds yummy x
I love the sound of the Lime Drizzle with Courgette!
Lime Drizzle with Courgette sounds fab
id love to try The fruit loaf with parsnip and lemon icing it would no doubt taste amazing
The chocolate brownies look and sound really moist and luscious.
Lime drizzle with courgette cake sounds scrummy!
The carrot cake with vanilla frosting looks rather tasy
The fruit loaf with parsnip and lemon icing, yummy!
I would love to try the Lime Drizzle with Courgette
The Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting!
carrot cake with vanilla frosting
I would love to try theApricot & Almond with Carrot Slices
Free From Christmas Pudding Traditional Round
I would love to have the carrot cake with vanilla frosting
Chocolate Cake and Brownie Box
Would love to try the Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting x
Fruit Loaf with Parsnip and Lemon Icing would be my first choice.
The Fruit Loaf with Parsnip and Lemon Icing . Parsnip has such a distinct flavour that I’m intrigued to know what it tastes like
Sounds like my children, Connor acts like your poisoning him if you offer him fruit and Megan absolutely loves it, Mollie is 8 months she likes banana but I mushed it up last week and she didn’t like it, I also tried her with strawberries and she liked them squashed but not in little chunks, this is a great way to get them eating 1 of their 5 a day, although they now say 10 a day which is impossible, I’m not entering the competition, I’m just commenting as I can relate to the battle lol xx
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Apricot and almond with carrot slice.
Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting.
I would like to try the Lime Drizzle with Courgette.
Carrot Cake with Vanilla Frosting. My favourite – I mix in Cream Cheese with Pineapple into the frosting too.
The fruit loaf with parsnip and lemon icing sounds lovely
I’d like to try the lime drizzle and courgette cake but they all sound interesting and tasty
Chocolate cake and brownie box
1 of my 5 a day too
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