ROASTED BEETROOT & CHOCOLATE CAKE

SERVES 10-12 GLUTEN-FREE REFINED SUGAR-FREE VEGETARIAN

This cake is moist, gluten-free, grain-free and refined sugar-free, and all the kids seem to love it. The roasted beetroot adds an extra sweet, earthy flavour.

The avocado icing is both decadent and delicious – and nobody would ever guess it had vegetables in it! This cake is best eaten on the day of baking because the icing doesn’t keep well.

INGREDIENTS

2-3 medium-large beetroots (you need 300g after preparing it)

4 large eggs

6 Tbsp coconut sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste

1 Tbsp raw cacao powder or cocoa powder 1½ tsp baking powder

130g ground almonds

200g dark chocolate (I use Green & Black’s 70% cocoa solids), broken into small chunks

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, ghee, olive oil or coconut oil

AVOCADO CHOCOLATE ICING

2 ripe avocados, peeled and stones removed ½ cup raw cacao powder or cocoa powder 7 Tbsp pure maple syrup or coconut nectar ¼ tsp vanilla paste or seeds

Pinch fine sea salt

CHOCOLATE CURLS (OPTIONAL)

About 190g good-quality dark chocolate 1 Preheat your oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm cake tin with a little butter or oil, and line the base and sides with baking paper.

2 Wrap the beetroots in foil, and roast for about 1 hour. To test whether the beetroot is done, poke a small, sharp knife through the middle, right through the foil – if it’s completely tender all the way through, then it is done. Remove the beetroots from the oven, unwrap, allow to cool a little and then peel. The roasted skin should just slip off, with a little encouragement, if it is tender enough; otherwise, use a small, sharp knife to help the skin off. Chop the beetroot into largish chunks and let them cool a bit more. When cool, place 300g of roasted beetroot in a food processor and blend until you have a smooth paste.

3 Place the beetroot purée, eggs, coconut sugar, vanilla, cacao/cocoa powder, baking powder and ground almonds in a large mixing bowl and beat together until fully combined.

4 Place the chocolate and butter, ghee or oil in a small saucepan. Over a low heat, melt very gently until fully melted, then mix together. Remove from the heat and leave to cool just a little before slowly pouring into the beetroot mix, while stirring. Mix to thoroughly combine, then pour into your prepared cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes.

5 While the cake is baking, you can make the icing. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a smooth consistency. Scrape into a bowl and pop in the fridge until you are ready to ice your cake.

6 When the cake is fully baked, remove from the oven and place the tin on a rack to cool completely. Remove the cooled cake from the tin and very carefully place it on a cake plate. Using a spoon or a palate knife, carefully spread the icing over the top of the cake.

7 To make the chocolate curls, simply unwrap your block of dark chocolate and place it upside down on your countertop so that the squares are face down and you have a nice flat surface on top. Take a large, sharp knife in both hands, one at either end of the knife. Holding the knife at a 45-degree angle to the chocolate, firmly but carefully drag it from the top of the chocolate towards you. As you drag the knife towards you, you should create lovely, delicate curls. Use another knife to gently scrape these off the chef’s knife. Keep repeating until you have enough curls, then scatter on top of the cake. •