When I told a friend I'd make artichoke cupcakes for her tea party, I should have warned her that I rarely, if ever, make the same thing twice. So instead of the artichoke cakes with a cream cheese frosting, I opted for a chocolatey version. Thank goodness, she didn't mind...and everyone seemed to enjoy these decadent treats.Chocolate-Artichoke Cakes
4-1/2 C white whole wheat flour
1/2 C Dutch process cocoa powder
2 t baking soda
2 t salt
2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
2 sticks softened butter
1 C canola oil
2 C raw sugar
1 C blue agave nectar
4 eggs
2 t vanilla extract
1 C buttermilk
2 cups chopped artichoke hearts
8 oz semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325. Mix dry ingredients. Beat butter and oil until well-mixed. Add sugar and beat until lightened. Beat in agave and eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Beat in half the flour mixture, then the second half. Stir in chocolate chips. Scrape batter into pans. Bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake is well risen and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack. Top with silky chocolate sauce.
Yum! I'm going to send this to my real life & bloggy friend Holly who tried the artichoke cupcakes at the Artichoke Festival about 3 years ago and has been yearning for the recipe ever since. I even tracked down the baker (Claudio's breads) and asked them for the recipe, in addition to writing to Gourmet and Bon Appetit and doing one of their recipe requests. No luck. Holly is going to be so happy to have a recipe to try for something sweet with artichokes. Plus, she'll appreciate the use of agave syrup!
ReplyDelete