Chocolate Beetroot cake
This does need butter, I tried it with oil and other ingredients, but this really is the best way to do it!
225g (8oz) butter, at room temperature
325g (11oz) dark muscovado sugar
4 eggs, beaten
225g (8oz) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
400g (14oz) raw beetroot, finely grated
85g (3_z) grated _dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa content)
bsp vanilla essence
icing sugar, to decorate
23cm (9in) deep-sided _cake tin, greased
What to do
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
2 Mix the softened butter and muscovado sugar together in a bowl until they're light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs a little at _a time, mixing well.
3 Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into the cake batter and stir together well.
4 Add the grated beetroot to _the cake mix, together with the grated chocolate. Stir well to combine, then add the vanilla essence to the mixture.
5 Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 50-65 minutes, depending on your oven and the depth of the cake tin. Check whether it's ready by carefully piercing the centre of the cake with a skewer. It should come out relatively clean. If you can still see pink batter on the skewer, it needs longer. Cover the top of the cake loosely with foil to prevent it from burning whilst the middle cooks. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve dusted with icing sugar.
