The Ultimate Chocolate and Beetroot Cake
Beetroot is one of my favourite winter vegetables, oven roasted or sliced raw in salads with goats cheese and walnuts are delicious but have you tried it in a chocolate cake? No matter how you feel about this vegetable this cake will not be an acquired taste. Grated beetroot is a great way to make a cake achingly moist, near molten. They also add a festive red tint to the cake. This is a decadent addition to the Christmas table and keeps for several days, dairy free too. I boiled the beetroot unpeeled in water for approximately 30 minutes. Please don’t be tempted to use pickled.
The Ultimate Chocolate & Beetroot Cake
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 8 servings
Ingredients
- 165g Plain Chocolate
- 2 Large Eggs
- 125g Light Brown Sugar
- 70g Self Raising Flour
- 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
- 35g Ground Almond
- 165g Beetroot, cooked
- 65g Sunflower Oil
- 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
For the Ganache
- 150g Dark Chocolate
- 2 Tbls Maple Syrup
- 1 Tbls Coconut Oil
- 50ml Coconut Milk
To Decorate
- A Handful of chopped and grated dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven t 160°C (fan). Grease a 20cm round, loose-bottomed cake tin with a little butter and line the base with baking paper.
- Place the plain chocolate in a bowl and set over a pan of gently simmering water. Allow the chocolate to melt slowly until smooth, then set aside to cool.
- Place the eggs, sugar and sunflower oil in a large mixing bowl and whisk together, using an electric hand whisk, for about 3 minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in vanilla extract, then sift over self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and gently fold in, together with the ground almonds.
- Using a pair of rubber gloves to protect your fingers from staining, whilst still warm, remove the skin from the beetroot. When it has cooled, grate, squeeze out some of the excess liquid. Fold the beetroot into the mixture with the cooled chocolate, until thoroughly mixed.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre to see if it comes out clean. Cool for a little while, then remove from the tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Chop the 150g of chocolate for the ganache and place in a glass or heatproof bowl, add the remaining ingredients. Place in the microwave (800w) and heat for 30 seconds and jiggle the bowl to create a little movement then leave undisturbed for 5 minutes. Heat again for 20 seconds then stir gently but don't over stir as this will take the sheen away from the ganache. If all the chocolate has melted and it's a nice pouring consistency then pour over the cooled cake. Grate and chop the handful of chocolate and sprinkle on the cake once the ganache is completely cooled.
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