BEET chocolate cake
I know I know, it's been done before and may have a bit of a hippy rep but this beetroot chocolate cake really is delish. There's not a trace of beetroot in the taste, which I must admit I found a little disappointing given it was my love for the vegetable that intrigued me about how it would work in a cake. BUT although there's no flavour enhancement, this whacky ingredient certainly does add to the texture - it's crazy! Say goodbye to dry cakes and welcome in this moist yet not sloppy, dense without being stodgy, overall perfect sponge!
And now for the real motivation behind the recipe: yep, that's right, The Office. Or more specifically, Dwight from The Office! Rain Wilson, if you're reading this (a girl can dream), then thanks for making lockdown a little easier and a whole lot funnier! For those of you who aren't yet acquainted with the genius that is The Office (firstly WHY NOT?) then this'll all be lost on you. In short, one of the characters - Dwight - owns a beet farm. Yep, that's it. I'm really scraping the barrel for recipe inspiration I guess...maybe that's just what isolation does to you.
Anyway, whatever the reason, this chocolate cake is truly the bomb and well worth a try!
Ingredients
50g cocoa powder
175g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
200g caster sugar
250g cooked beetroot
3 medium eggs
200ml sunflower oil (or olive oil)
100g dark chocolate, finely chopped
icing sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C then grease and line a 23cm cake tin.
Sieve the cocoa, flour, baking powder and sugar into a large mixing bowl.
Drain and halve the beetroot, then blend in a food processor. With the machine running, add the eggs one at a time, then pour in the oil. Blend the mixture until the liquid is smooth.
Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix in the chocolate.
Pour into the tin and cook for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes, then turn out and leave to cool.
Dust the cake with icing sugar before serving.
