This cake is a great way to get your kids to eat beetroot! I get mine involved with the baking process too. When I first heard about this cake I was quite skeptical, but having tasted it my opinion has changed completely. In fact this is one of my favourite chocolate cakes. It’s very moist along with the sugary taste of beetroot. Whenever my customers sample this cake they simply refuse to believe the fact that they have tasted beetroot, and I always receive rave reviews. They order it very often too.

You can even bake Chocolate Beetroot Cupcakes; the only difference being the shorter baking time: around 12 – 15 minutes. My choice of topping is Ganache, but any type of chocolate frosting would do. If you want to make it simple just dust some icing sugar on top and enjoy!

According to the recipe you have to purée the beetroot but you can change the texture by chopping half the beetroot as the pieces have a similara texture to Turkish delight once it’s baked. If you have raw beetroot you’ll have to boil it whole with the skin on. Once it cools, down peel and purée it.

In the cake recipe I have used butter instead of oil as the buttery taste gives it a rich flavour. Brown sugar compliments the sweetness of the beetroot and I prefer to use 50% brown and 50% white in most chocolate recipes.

Ingredients

For the cake:

250 g beetroot
200 g dark chocolate
175 g butter
100 g castor sugar
100 g brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
180 g flour

For the Ganache:
200 g dark chocolate
150 ml cream

Method

1. Boil the beetroot with the skin on. Once it’s cool, peel then chop into cubes and purée.

2. Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a simmering pot of water and leave aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar well and add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Add the vanilla essence, melted chocolate and puréed beetroot, and mix well.

5. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda together and gently fold into the mixture.

6. Pour into a prepared 23 cm tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 25-30 minutes.

7. Take out of tin and cool on wire rack.

8. For the ganache, place chocolate in thick bottomed saucepan and melt over low heat. Once the chocolate has dissolved, turn off the heat and add cream. Mix well and leave to cool. When the ganache is cool it will be thick and easier to pour over the cake.