Beetroot Chocolate Cake

Here’s a quite awesome chocolate cake. No butter, lots of fresh (not pickled!!) beetroot gives it a lovely moist texture. It’s healthy too, for a chocolate cake!

The cake

• 250 g dark chocolate
• 3 medium eggs
• 250 g light muscovado sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons clear honey
• 40 g self-raising flour
• 40 g plain flour
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 25 g cocoa powder
• 50 g ground almonds
• 250 g raw beetroot, peeled and finely grated
• 100 ml strong black coffee, optional
• 30 ml sunflower oil

The topping

• 150 g dark chocolate
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 3 tablespoons clear honey

1. Heat a conventional oven to 160ºC, or a fan-assisted one to 140ºC. Grease a round 20cm diameter by 8cm high loose-bottomed tin.

2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until all dissolved, set aside to cool.

3. Beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla essence, the maple syrup and the honey vigorously for three minutes until pale and quite fluffy.

4. Fold in the flours, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cocoa and ground almonds.

5. Using some kitchen paper, dab the grated beetroot thoroughly to remove some of the excess moisture. Fold in the beetroot, cooled chocolate, (option) coffee and oil until thoroughly mixed together.

6. Pour the mixture into the tin and cook in the middle of the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes. After this time, cover the cake with foil and bake for another 30 minutes.

7. Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre to see if it comes out clean (although this cake is so moist that even when the cake is fully cooked, the skewer comes out looking slightly messy). Leave to cool on a wire rack.

8. To make the topping, melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, then remove from the heat and add the vanilla essence and honey.

9. Set aside to cool for at least 15 minutes before icing the cake. Cut the cake through the middle and ice it in the centre (jam?) and on all sides.

And here’s what it should look like!

Beetroot chocolate fudge cake

This recipe is based on: Beetroot chocolate fudge cake