“I will, don’t worry” I answered. But inside, I was skeptical. Come on- cakes made with vegetables instead of butter? Who’s buying that one?

The premise behind Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache is that cakes can be healthy, or at the very least, not unhealthy. The author, Harry Eastwood, was one of four women behind Channel 4′s 2007 series Cook Yourself Thin, and is a self-confessed cake junkie. She wrote this cookbook because she believes that enjoying cake- real, delicious cake- should be a regular activity, and not an infrequent indulgence.

How to achieve this, without sacrificing flavour for health? Reduce the fat, sugar and calorie content of classic cake recipes by replacing the butter with a combination of ground almonds (for fat and texture) and finely grated vegetables (for moisture and fluff). Used together, this nuts-and-veg combination is meant to magically create a moist, tender crumb without compromising on taste. What I thought? We’ll see about that.

The book looks lovely, if a bit cute and girly for some tastes. Most of the food shots are beautifully styled and a treat to look at, and the only ones that truly bother me are those where cupcakes are displayed in an antique doll’s house (yes, really) or the ones featuring little girls dressed up like fairies. The thick, matte paper is a nice quality, and the layouts are pretty, but clean and effective.

The eight chapters, rather infuriatingly, have been given colours as well as names, such as The Pale Pink Chapter – Birthday Cake or The Purple Chapter – Lemon and Lavender Drizzle Cake. Obviously there is more than one recipe per chapter (those named are simply the leading one), and there has been an effort to group these somewhat logically. For instance, The Orange Chapter – Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes contains recipes of an autumnal feel, many containing citrus, toffee or fall fruits. This “system” of organization is slightly confusing, but not a huge annoyance.

No, the huge annoyance here is the writing. As nearly every review of this book has mentioned, the author’s girly, twee, altogether too-cutesy-for-words style grates like fingernails on a blackboard. She seems strangely preoccupied with personification: every vegetable and cake gets a personality, and usually a gender too. Absurd to the point of hilarity, it does get a tad annoying when you realise that, instead of offering any useful information about each recipe, there’s nothing but a little story. For example, the blurb about Orange Blossoms:

These little cupcakes are light, bright and pretty. They’re also a little fickle, and not without ambition. Don’t be surprised if they compliment you on your hair, the week before your birthday party invitations are being handed out… (pg. 13)

(A word to the wise: if your cupcakes do, in fact, begin to compliment you, step away. They’re likely laced with more than just vegetables.)

If you can move past this to the actual recipes, you’re in for a delicious surprise. After first trying some of my sister’s veggie baking, I was astonished; these cakes are good. My own first effort was Ginger Millies (pg. 15), a butternut squash-based cupcake with a unbelievably moist crumb. I then tried the Sunken Apricot and Almond Cake (pg. 49) which rivals many traditional (and far less healthy) treats in both taste and texture.

Next on my list are the Forbidden Chocolate Brownies (pg. 137), which get their “squidge” factor from beetroot, and the Ginger Sticky Toffee Pudding (pg. 172), which contains parsnip. Not limited to cakes, Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache also contains recipes for preserves like Sharpie Strawberry Jam (pg. 7), teatime treats such as Port Mary Scones (pg. 94) and other intriguing delights, like Parsnip Vanilla Fudge (pg. 169).

Not everything is super-healthy, though many cakes are low in calories (there is a useful nutritional table at the back). Since the vegetables contain natural sugars, there is little extra added- good news for those of us who don’t like our cakes too sweet. Also unusually, all the recipes have been tested with white rice flour (though they can be made with plain flour), which makes them suitable for those with gluten allergies. While almost all of the recipes are notable for their lack of butter, many of the icings, sauces and toppings in the book do rely on it, as Harry claims to be “all for butter- when you can taste it” (xiii).

So, have I been convinced? Yes and no. I’d like to hang on to Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache for a while, though I’m not sure I’ll be investing in my own copy. While these cakes are light years better than I expected them to be, they’re hardly the Most Delicious Cakes I’ve Ever Had or anything. I also feel that, while the texture of Harry’s cakes are indeed wonderful, the flavour isn’t always there (butter adds more than just fat and moisture to baked goods, after all).

When all is said and done, though, I (grudgingly) admit that Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache is a great cookbook. If you’re a health-conscious cake lover, a concerned parent looking for some healthy treats, or have a gluten allergy, you can’t go wrong with this book. If you can get past the nauseating writing, there are some wonderful recipes in here. Four twinkly, sparkly, dancing little stars, then.

Inspired by Mark’s personal journey two years ago toward a healthier, more environmentally friendly diet, the book is divided into two (roughly) equal halves. The first deals with the state of the average American diet today, its health and environmental consequences, and the second is comprised of a collection of health-focused recipes, with an emphasis on whole grains and vegetables. 

In the first section, Mark discusses the global impact of a meat-based diet in terms of the use of resources and its effect on climate change. He also touches on the US government’s role in the nation’s eating habits, expressing concern over the choices behind the USDA guidelines. Also in this section, Mark looks beyond the “facts” of many food studies, and debunks several health and diet myths. 

So, did any of this change the way I think and eat? Well, not really- Mark is preaching to the choir here. I already gave up meat 15 months ago for many of reasons stated here, so I found myself more heartily agreeing with him than being swayed in any way. At the very least, Food Matters has provided me with many fascinating statistics with which to guilt my friends and family. (Did you know that 40 times more energy is required to produce one calorie of meat, as to produce one calorie of grain? My parents sure do.)

After this barrage of carefully executed complaints, the “diet” angle of the book comes into play. Mark discusses what he calls “sane eating”, and introduces us to his “vegan before 6 o’clock” method. At first, this prescriptive approach put me off a touch, but I realised that in pandering to the American diet-books market (and it’s a pretty huge one, I’d wager), Bittman is widening the audience for Food Matters considerably.

The second half of the book kicks off with four weeks of sample menus, covering meals, snacks and desserts for seven days a week. This is another example of Food Matters‘ prescriptive, diet-type approach, but I actually liked this. Not that I’ll be using Mark’s meal plans, but it is interesting to see just how varied a month of eating can be using these recipes. 

The 77 recipes included here are nothing new to me. Being a huge fan of Mark’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, I was pretty sure I’d seen most of them before. Divided into chapters for Basics, Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner and Desserts, they represent a best-of selection of Mark’s recipes; vegetarian for the most part, but some containing meat as well. It’s a great edit though, including both old favourites of mine (Anything Goes Granola, pg. 168) and new ideas I’d like to try (Crisp Nori Ribbons, pg. 227).

The recipes here have also been chosen for their simplicity, which I think goes along with the slight diet angle of the book. Practical for people who aren’t used to cooking, they rarely contain a long list of ingredients, or indeed any that are difficult to find. In that way, there’s sort of an “introduction to healthy cooking” vibe here. 

The only problem I have with the recipe section of Food Matters is that it looks like the rest of the book. That is to say, there are no photos or any visual treats to entice the reader. From a design perspective I understand this and even agree that photos would be out of place here, but from a cooking one, I’d like something to convince me that Roasted Herb-Stuffed Vegetables (pg. 272) are worth making. 

I really liked this book. As a cookbook alone it probably wouldn’t get top marks, since the recipes, though delicious, are simple in nature with not a lot of variety. Those interested in making a real leap into vegetarian cooking would do better to invest in Mark’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian instead. But as an interesting read, or a tool for anyone wanting to improve their health and the health of the planet, I would definitely recommend Food Matters.