Monthly Archives: October 2025

Purple Sweet Potato Gelato

Purple Sweet Potato Gelato

This might be one of the oddest frozen desserts I have ever made. It is also one of the tastiest.

I started with a purple sweet potato. I peeled and steamed until it was tender. Once the potato cooled down, I pureed it with a can of coconut milk. I then sweetened the mixture and added some vanilla. I chilled, then froze it in my ice cream maker.

The texture was so smooth and the flavor was wonderful. The pretty purple color was an added bonus.

The sweet potato itself doesn’t look like anything special, until you cut it open. The outside is a pale, whitish color, the inside is bright purple. You could easily over look these at the produce market. Once cooked, they taste pretty much like other sweet potatoes. I find them at my local Asian grocery store.

The texture was so smooth and the flavor was wonderful. The pretty purple color was an added bonus.

I used one pretty good sized sweet potato. Thinking just under a pound. Here is the recipe.

Purple Sweet Potato Gelato

1 large purple sweet potato, peeled, cooked and cooled down

1 can ( about 13 oz.) coconut milk

3/4 c. sugar- or to taste

2 t. vanilla

In blender or food processor, combine sweet potato and coconut milk. Process until mixture is very smooth. Sweeten to taste with sugar and add the vanilla. Chill mixture, then process in an ice cream machine. If you don’t have an ice cream machine- freeze mixture. Then remove from freezer and let it soften a few minutes. Process in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Makes about 1 quart.

Chocolate Beet Cake

Chocolate Beet Cake

When I say beet cake, a lot of people give me a funny look. First, there are the beet haters, and you know who you are. The people who just don’t like the taste of beets. I get that, beets are an acquired taste.

Then there are the people who like beets, but could never picture them in a cake. I bake cakes with carrots in them,  zucchini and even parsnips. Adding beets to a cake is not so far off. The beets add a subtle red color to the cake, but they also add moistness. The end result is a cake that is full of flavor and has a wonderful, moist texture. This is easily the most requested cake that I bake. Rumor has it that the first red velvet cake was tinted red with beet juice, not artificial red coloring.

Truth is, I don’t really taste the beets in the cake much at all. I taste the chocolate. So here is the chocolate beet cake recipe. I hope you enjoy it.

Chocolate Beet Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3 large eggs, beaten

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons oil

1½ cups grated cooked beets

2 teaspoons vanilla

Powdered sugar, optional, or cream cheese frosting- recipe below

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour, soda, salt, sugar and cocoa in a bowl; set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs and oil. Beat in vanilla and continue beating until well blended. Slowly beat in dry ingredients until well mixed; stir in beets. Pour into a greased and floured 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25 to 35 minutes, or until cake bounces back when touched lightly with finger. Cool in pan on a rack. Frost cooled cake, or dust with powdered sugar.

Frosting recipe:

8 oz. Cream cheese, softened

3/4 c. powdered sugar- or more to taste

1 stick butter, room temperature

Beat all together until fluffy. Frost cake and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Plum Glazed Wings

Plum Glazed Wings

I love when local fruit is in season. I found myself with lovely red plums and I decided to use some of them to make a sauce for chicken wings. The sauce came out really nice.  I started with onions, garlic and plum puree. I added more ingredients as I went until I felt the sauce had the flavor I was going for. This sauce/glaze would be great on pork or duck, too.

I pan fried my wings, but they could be grilled and basted with the sauce instead, air fried, or baked in the oven.

Plum Sauce/Glaze

2 T. oil, butter or bacon fat

1 medium onion, minced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. plum puree made from about 1 lb. of plums

¼ c. cider vinegar

2 T. honey

1 T. hot sauce

1 t. fresh grated ginger

Salt to taste

I started by peeling the plums. You could leave the skins on, if you like. I think next time I might leave the skins on. I put the plums in boiling water for a minute and then in cold water. The skins came right off. I removed the pits and pureed the plums- I ended up with a cup of fresh plum puree. Saute onion in a little oil- you could use butter or even bacon fat.  Add garlic once the  onions are tender. After that, add the plum puree and the rest of the ingredients. Let it cook for about 10 minutes to thicken and give it a taste. I decided to smooth the sauce out in the blender but it would be fine to leave it chunky. Makes about 11/2 cups.

To cook the wings I just pan-fried them. I had just over a pound of wings. I cooked them in a skillet, covered for about 20 minutes, turning a couple of times. I poured the sauce over them and turned the heat down to medium. I let them cook, covered, another 10 or 15 minutes. Once I was sure the wings were cooked through, I uncovered them and let the sauce cook down and thicken a little. It created a nice glaze on the wings. Easy and very tasty. I could also see baking or grilling the wings and just tossing them in the sauce at the end.

I ended up pureeing more plums and tossed them in the freezer so I can make this sauce again when the weather is chilly and no fresh plums are around.