This lovely chocolate cake is guaranteed to win over your most avid beetroot-hating friends and family
Beetroot with chocolate?! It might sound like a strange combination but trust us, it’s a match made in heaven. We promise you can’t taste a hint of beetroot in the cake, it simply creates an incredibly moist texture that complements the rich chocolate flavour.
Ingredients
Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 40-45 minutes
- 250g cooked beetroot
- 225g plain flour
- 300g golden caster sugar
- 3 medium free-range eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250ml vegetable oil + extra for greasing
- 50g cocoa powder
- 1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 50g dark chocolate
- A pinch of salt
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a 8 x 3-inch deep cake tin
- Whizz up the cooked beetroot in a food processor until it’s pureed.
- Once it’s nice and smooth, tip it into a large mixing bowl with the eggs, oil, vanilla extract and sugar and whisk until everything is well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and sieve into the beetroot mixture.
- Mix everything together, making sure that it’s well combined.
- Pour into your cake tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for around 40-45 minutes. When the cake is ready, a skewer or cocktail stick will come out more or less clean. If it’s sticky, it’ll need slightly longer.
- Leave the cake to cool before turning it onto a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Drizzle it over the cake to make any sort of pattern you fancy.
How to store it
Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Storing it in the fridge will make it go stale quicker.
Freeze it
Did you know that a huge 75,000 tonnes of cake are thrown away in the UK every year? To freeze it, make sure the cake is cool then wrap it tightly in tin foil and store it in the freezer for up to three months.
Mix it up
Use milk or white chocolate instead of dark for the chocolate drizzle. If you want to push the boat out, whip up some buttercream icing.
