Beetroot Chocolate Cake
On the weekend I baked my first ever Beetroot Chocolate Cake.
I was a bit nervous about it because I've never made one before and the recipe is pretty unusual!
You basically boil up a bunch of beetroot and then let it cool in the pot before rubbing off their skins.
Which means you end up with VERY red hands! After that it's a fairly normal cake recipe but it does make a wet mixture which is also VERY red. As I tipped it into the baking pan I was feeling pretty unsure about the whole thing. I mean a vegetable in a cake?! but I thought if it can work for the humble carrot? Luckily it tasted great (phew!) and was perfectly cooked after 50 mins just like the recipe said.
I first heard about this cake when watching an episode of Nigella on FoodTV and then a friend of mine made us one for dessert and I was so intrigued by the unique flavour it brought to a chocolate cake.
I think I would make it agian for sure, very moist and moreish. Hooray for chocolate cake and hooray for unusual recipes.
Side note: This recipe is also gluten free and if you wanted you could make it lower in sugar by adding a natural sweetener like maple syrup or honey.
Ingredients
To cook the beetroots, wash thoroughly and place in a pot full of cold water. No need to peel.
Bring the pot to the boil and cook the beets until soft when poked with a knife – approx 30 minutes though this depends on the size of the beets.
When cooked, run the beets under cold water and gently rub off the skins.
Blend or mash the beetroots until slightly smooth but still some ‘chunks’ remaining.
Melt the dark chocolate over a double boiler or place the chopped chocolate in a bowl, cover with cling film and microwave on low for approximately 1 minute until chocolate has just melted. When you remove from the microwave, stir quickly to melt any pieces that are still solid.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and oil.
Slowly add the cooked beet puree, the melted chocolate and vanilla into the egg mixture.
Stir well to combine, but take care not to over work the mixture.
Sift the cocoa and add this, the almond meal, baking powder and salt to the beet batter.
Fold just until everything is combined. Again, don’t over mix the batter.
Grease and line a 20 cm cake pan
Pour in your cake batter
Bake for approximately 50 minutes.
Cake is ready when a tooth pick or skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Baking time may vary depending on the pan and oven you are using.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan.
I made chocolate ganache for the icing but you could use regular chocolate icing or just dust it with icing sugar if you like.
Who knew Beetroot could be so wonderful in a cake?
I was a bit nervous about it because I've never made one before and the recipe is pretty unusual!
You basically boil up a bunch of beetroot and then let it cool in the pot before rubbing off their skins.
Which means you end up with VERY red hands! After that it's a fairly normal cake recipe but it does make a wet mixture which is also VERY red. As I tipped it into the baking pan I was feeling pretty unsure about the whole thing. I mean a vegetable in a cake?! but I thought if it can work for the humble carrot? Luckily it tasted great (phew!) and was perfectly cooked after 50 mins just like the recipe said.
I first heard about this cake when watching an episode of Nigella on FoodTV and then a friend of mine made us one for dessert and I was so intrigued by the unique flavour it brought to a chocolate cake.
I think I would make it agian for sure, very moist and moreish. Hooray for chocolate cake and hooray for unusual recipes.
Side note: This recipe is also gluten free and if you wanted you could make it lower in sugar by adding a natural sweetener like maple syrup or honey.
Beetroot Chocolate Cake:
- 85 grams dark chocolate
- 3 medium eggs
- 2 cups coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 cup olive oil or melted butter
- 300 grams cooked beetroots (see method)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1tbsp vanilla essence)
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 200 grams almond meal
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (or gluten free baking powder)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Method
Pre heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.To cook the beetroots, wash thoroughly and place in a pot full of cold water. No need to peel.
Bring the pot to the boil and cook the beets until soft when poked with a knife – approx 30 minutes though this depends on the size of the beets.
When cooked, run the beets under cold water and gently rub off the skins.
Blend or mash the beetroots until slightly smooth but still some ‘chunks’ remaining.
Melt the dark chocolate over a double boiler or place the chopped chocolate in a bowl, cover with cling film and microwave on low for approximately 1 minute until chocolate has just melted. When you remove from the microwave, stir quickly to melt any pieces that are still solid.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and oil.
Slowly add the cooked beet puree, the melted chocolate and vanilla into the egg mixture.
Stir well to combine, but take care not to over work the mixture.
Sift the cocoa and add this, the almond meal, baking powder and salt to the beet batter.
Fold just until everything is combined. Again, don’t over mix the batter.
Grease and line a 20 cm cake pan
Pour in your cake batter
Bake for approximately 50 minutes.
Cake is ready when a tooth pick or skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Baking time may vary depending on the pan and oven you are using.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan.
I made chocolate ganache for the icing but you could use regular chocolate icing or just dust it with icing sugar if you like.
From this:
To this!
Who knew Beetroot could be so wonderful in a cake?
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