Beet Cake..and Other Unique Douglas County 4-H Cooking Entries

Sarah cooking for 4-H projects..sometime during the 1980's

For 12 years, I participated in Douglas County 4-H. Many people tend to assume that 4-H is only for farm kids and in 4-H, you only show animals at the fair. Despite all my begging for that steer...I only took clothing/sewing, crops, leadership, and... cooking. I am very grateful for these many years of cooking lessons from various 4-H ladies, including my mom. There were definitely some memorable experiences in 4-H cooking. I will never forget the girl that took a bread baking project from my mom..and she was afraid of flour! Once, I was doing a cooking demonstration, possibly one of my first demonstrations, making "Mary's Eggs" (Mary Ross). I put the fork I was using to stir the eggs in the microwave and nearly set the microwave on fire! Finally, there have been countless disasters and messes over the years when you are trying to teach kids how to cook. Who's the worst...a young child trying to cook..or a ditzy, annoying teenager?! Ask Martha..she would likely tell you, as she taught Bread Making mostly to teenagers.

Despite all of the disasters, I would recommend 4-H, especially home-ec type projects like cooking and sewing, to any youngster because it teaches you meaningful life skills. But this blog isn't about 4-H...it's about 4-H fair entries and the outstanding, unique, and straight out weird recipes that go with them. At some point during my 12 years of 4-H cooking projects, it became the right thing to make healthy recipes for fair entries. During the 90's, we were definitely on a health kick, starting to use whole grains, less fats and sugars, and more veggies and fruits. So, with this health kick, the fair judges definitely started looking for healthy recipes. And I remember as a kid, this wasn't very fun for me! I wanted to make brownies and things that looked pretty. Whole wheat prune bars aren't really nice to look at, nor do they taste good for that matter.

I can't remember many of the recipes I used for the fair, but here are a few that stick out in my mind. The first one is very simple and it is a recipe that I made for my first demonstration at 7 years old. The next one is the one recipe I came close to winnig a championship ribbon for. Unfortunately, in all my years of 4-H, I did not receive one championship or reserve championship ribbon and I always hoped I would :). When I entered the second recipe, I received third place and took it to the state fair. I was also asked by Arden Booth's daughter-in-law to make this bread for her personally--Arden Booth was an amazing supporter of Douglas County 4-H and is well respected in Lawrence, KS. The third recipe is some crazy idea that my mother had--Chocolate Beet Cake. Many people do not know this but I despise beets and the smell alone makes me gag. So, the idea of a Chocolate Beet cake is just crazy to me. However, after making it, I realized it had less sugar and fat than a traditional cake. And the beets made it incredibly moist. My picky tongue could very faintly taste the beets but it wasn't too bad. Finally, the last recipe is one I found recently that I would definitely do as a fair entry, if I was in 4-H now. They were delicious!

So, here's to 4-H cooking and always trying "To Make the Best Better!"

Sassy Recipes of the Week

Marigold Salad
**Great recipe for little ones

12-15 strawberries, stemmed and halved
1 large red apple, any variety
1 banana
Peanut butter
Sunflower seeds
Lemon Juice

Core apple but do not peel. Cut apple into 1/4 inch slices (so slices are thick round disks). Slice banana into bite size pieces. Place both in lemon juice to avoid browning. Dry apple slices (should be around four) and place on a serving plate. Press banana slices into apple where core was (banana might be slightly smashed). Spread peanut butter over entire apple and banana slice. Place another banana on top of the other banana and spread that banana with a tiny bit of peanut butter. Arrange sliced strawberries around the banana to represent petals. Sprinkle peanut butter topped banana with sunflower seeds.

Maple Pecan Coffee Twist

BREAD:
1 package or a tablespoon of yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm milk
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
FILLING:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon maple extract
1 stick of butter, room temperature
ICING:
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon maple extract
A few tablespoons of milk

Mix the yeast with the warm water and let set till foamy, about five minutes. Mix the rest of the bread ingredients till a dough forms. Knead for several minutes and form into a ball. Place dough ball in a greased bowl, cover with a towel, and let raise for an hour.
For the filling, mix all ingredients except butter till combined and set aside. Melt butter in microwave, set aside. Take dough and divide into three parts. Roll each part into separate large circles, about 15 inches. Place one circle on a large greased baking sheet. Brush circle with 1/3 of the melted butter and sprinkle with 1/3 of the filling. Seal the edges by pinching the ends of the dough together, completely around. Place a second circle on top, and repeat process. Place the last piece of dough on top and spread with butter and filling. Place a glass or round object in the middle. Take kitchen shears and gently slice dough circle into sixteen even slices, NOT cutting through entire circle--just to edge of glass. Carefully twist each slice several times. When finished with all slices, pinch edges together and tuck underneath. Cover with a towel and let raise for an hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients for glaze. Set aside. Bake for 25-30 minutes. When you take bread out of oven, slide a spatula underneath and transfer to wire rack to cool. Drizzle with icing. Slice and serve.

Chocolate Beet Cake

4 ounces of semisweet chocolate (I prefer Ghiradelli 60% Cacoa)
1 cup of oil
2 cups of sugar
3 eggs
2 cups of pureed cooked or canned beets
2 cups sifted flour
2 teaspooons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt chocolate with 1/4 cup of oil over double boiler or in microwave. Cool chocolate for a few minutes. Beat sugar and eggs together till fluffy. Stir in the remaining oil, beets, and melted chocolate. Beat thoroughly. Sift flour with salt and baking soda; add to batter. Stir in vanilla. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake until inserted toothpick comes out clean (baking times vary). Take out of pan and cool on wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar.


Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

3 cups flour
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups of zucchini, shredded
1 stick of butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of chocolate chips (I prefer Ghiradelli 60% cacoa chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour, cocoa, soad, salt, and cinnamon. In separate bowl, mix together zucchini and butter. Combine with flour mixture, mixing well. In same separate bowl, mix sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Combine with flour-zucchini mixture. Stir all together till mixed well. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool and slice into bars.