Though it sounds crazy, bakers having been adding tomatoes to sweet baking for at least the past 50 years as a way of enriching the flavour and helping the texture stay soft for longer. Probably the best-known example is the Campbell's Tomato Soup chocolate cake, invented by American baker Rose Levy Beranbaum many years ago and now a classic.
Chocolate is a great pairing with tomato as the slight astringency and aniseed flavour of the fruit works well with the cocoa.
Chocolate tomato muffins with espresso glaze.
Photo: William MeppemChocolate tomato muffins with espresso glaze
I've made the muffins rich with melted chocolate, using tomato paste and juice in place of soup. The texture is beautifully soft and fudgy, the flavour gentle with chocolate alongside fruity licorice notes from the tomato. Make them, then play with your own ideas adding, say, chopped candied ginger, dates, chocolate chips or spices.
INGREDIENTS
150g tomato juice
30g tomato paste
300g brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
50g cocoa
50g unsalted butter
50g dark chocolate
50g olive oil
4 eggs (60g each)
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Espresso glaze
25g boiling water
1 tsp instant coffee
½ tsp ground coffee beans
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g icing sugar
METHOD
1. Line a deep muffin tray with paper cases and heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-forced).
2. Put the tomato juice, tomato paste, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Melt the butter, chocolate and oil together gently then whisk this in, followed by the eggs, whisking in one at a time until smooth.
3. Sift in the flour and baking powder then fold this through evenly without over-mixing. Divide the mixture between 10 muffin papers, filled almost to the top, then bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.
4. Remove the muffins from the tray, onto a cooling rack and leave until cold before icing.
5. To make the espresso glaze, pour the boiling water into a small bowl and dissolve both the instant and ground coffee in it. Stir in the vanilla and icing sugar and mix until smooth. Adjust the consistency with a drop more water if it's too thick. Then spoon this over the muffins and leave to set.
Makes 10 large muffins
Dan Lepard's roasted peanut, rosemary and tomato cookies.
Photo: William MeppemRoasted peanut, rosemary and tomato cookies
A tomato and rosemary twist on mum's childhood favourite from New Zealand. If you want to test the flavours before committing to a whole batch, you can halve the recipe – just beat the egg and weigh to divide it. Well-roasted peanuts work best, so if they look insipid give them a blast in a moderate oven until they are a rich dark golden colour.
INGREDIENTS
130g unsalted butter, softened
50g peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
30g tomato paste
20g cocoa powder
250g brown sugar
1 egg (60g)
180g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
150g roasted salted peanuts, plus extra to finish
METHOD
1. Put the butter, peanut butter, tomato paste, cocoa and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in the egg, then add the flour, baking powder and rosemary and mix evenly to a soft dough. Mix in the peanuts then spoon into 40 gram balls onto a tray, spaced five centimetres apart. With a fork dipped in water, press the dough balls out flat to about peanut thickness.
2. Sprinkle a few extra peanuts on top of each to decorate. You can add chopped sprigs of rosemary to make them more Instagrammable but, trust me, they're a bit weird to bite into so better left off.
3. Bake for 15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack and leave until cold.
Makes about 20 large cookies
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