Vegetables and fruits are among the oldest and most widely eaten foods. They’ve long been known to play a crucial role in nutrition. Some, like peas and beans, can rival meat and fish in calories. Fruits and vegetables supply vitamins, minerals, and trace elements essential to the body. For generations, people have noticed that diets rich in plant foods lead to fewer illnesses and a healthier appearance. The plant kingdom offers at least 1,200 varieties of fruits and vegetables — an endless selection of nutritious, low-calorie ingredients and a colorful array of flavors. Here are several unconventional desserts that belong on your festive table.
ROLL “MOSAIKA”
Sauté the vegetables in a skillet until they become soft, then pass them through a meat grinder.
Add an egg, flour, and salt.
Prepare the cottage cheese as you would for a casserole: mix in salt, sugar, an egg, and semolina.
On a napkin sprinkled with breadcrumbs, place a layer of cottage cheese, followed by a layer of vegetables, and then a layer of soaked apricots and prunes.
Roll it up and place it on a baking sheet (without the napkin).
Brush the roll with a mixture of egg yolk and sour cream (1 tablespoon sour cream and one yolk) and bake in the oven at a low temperature.
Once ready, slice the roll into portions and serve with sour cream, jam, or canned fruits.
Dough: 200g cottage cheese, 2 carrots, 2 beets, 1 tablespoon semolina, 2 teaspoons flour, 1 egg, vanilla, and salt.
CARROT CAKE
Dough: 2 eggs, 1.5 cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 cup grated carrots, 250g margarine, 1.5 cups flour.
Melt the margarine, mix all the ingredients, and knead the dough as you would for pancakes.
Bake the cake, slice it, and spread with cream. Cream: whip 200g sour cream with 1/2 cup sugar.
Option 2
Dough: 2 cups grated carrots, 4 eggs, 2 cups sugar, 1 package melted margarine, 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda. Bake at a moderate temperature.
Slice and spread the layers with cream and decorate.
Option 3
Grate 1 cup of carrots finely and mix with 1 cup sugar, 200g soft margarine, 1/3 teaspoon baking soda, and 3 cups flour to form a pliable dough.
Divide the dough into 3 parts and roll out the layers, then bake the layers in the oven.
Prepare the cream: in a saucepan, crack one egg, add 2 tablespoons flour, and mix well.
Gradually pour in one cup of milk while stirring constantly and place the saucepan in a pot of boiling water.
When the mixture begins to thicken, continue cooking it in a water bath to prevent burning until it reaches a thick porridge-like consistency.
Once cooled, mix in 150g butter, 1 cup sugar, and carrot juice.
Layer the cakes with cream, smooth the edges, and sprinkle the sides and top of the cake with crumbs.
Let the cake sit for 5–6 hours.
CAKE “SURPRISE”
Soak 2 cups white beans in water for about two hours (or overnight), then boil them in a covered pot at a gentle simmer for about an hour and a half, until tender but not mushy.
Drain the water from the beans, cool them, and pass them through a meat grinder.
Take 10 eggs and separate the whites from the yolks (crack each egg in half, keeping the yolk in one half of the shell and pouring the white into a cup; then transfer the yolk between the shell halves until it is free of the white).
Chill the egg whites, and beat the yolks with 1 cup sugar until pale.
Add the beans, season with salt, and mix in 1 cup ground white crackers.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, adding a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of powdered sugar, then fold the whites into the main mixture.
Before whipping the egg whites, prepare the baking pan by greasing it with oil and lining the bottom with greased paper.
Preheat the oven.
Pour the prepared mixture into the pan and bake for approximately 40–60 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (about 400 degrees Fahrenheit).
Remove the paper from the hot cake, and once cooled, slice it horizontally into 3 layers using a sharp knife heated in hot water.
Soak each layer with syrup and spread with cream (1 can condensed milk boiled for 2 hours, cooled, and whipped with butter; you can add lemon or orange juice or zest).
Decorate the top with cream.
CAKE “POTATO”
Grate five boiled potatoes on a fine grater or pass them through a meat grinder.
Beat 2 yolks with 1.5 cups powdered sugar and mix them into the potatoes.
Add lemon or orange zest, cinnamon, 1/3 teaspoon baking soda, 200g butter or margarine, 2 whipped egg whites, and 3 cups flour.
Knead the dough and place it in a greased deep baking dish (pot) to create a tall cake.
Bake in the oven for 1.5 hours.
Once ready, turn the cake out and sprinkle with vanilla sugar.
CAKE “CHERRY BIRD CHERRY”
Combine 1 cup each of flour, sugar, sour cream, and ground bird cherry, plus 5 eggs, a pinch of salt, and a dash of baking soda.
Mix everything well, divide into two parts, and bake each on a greased baking sheet for 30 minutes.
Once cooled, spread with whipped sour cream mixed with sugar (1 cup thick sour cream, 1/2 cup sugar).
PUMPKIN CAKE
Bake 800g pumpkin in the oven until soft, then mash it and mix it with 50g sugar, 2 yolks, 4 tablespoons milk, 100g soaked raisins, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and whipped egg whites.
In a greased baking dish, place the dough (350g flour, 150g margarine, 1 teaspoon sugar, a pinch of salt), raise the edges, add the filling, and bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.
