This cake is a great way to make use of a glut of beetroots. I usually bake it and freeze half of it to keep when a cake is needed at short notice.
The beetroot compliments the rich, dark chocolate very well and makes it moist and sweet. A winner, in our books! It is a Mary Berry's recipe that is more like a traybake than a cake. I cut it and serve in square slices.
I keep the half destined for the freezer as naked and I ice and decorate it as I please when it is defrosted.
I start by breaking 3 large eggs into a large mixing bowl and I add 50g of cocoa powder, 150g of self-raising flour, 2 tsp of baking powder and 175g of light muscovado sugar. I stir a little with a wooden spoon then I gradually mix in 300ml of sunflower oil, beating to combine well until I have a thick, smooth batter. I then stir 225g of raw, coarsely grated beetroot (that's about two medium beetroots) into the mixture before spooning it in a round cake tin lined with baking parchment.
I bake this traybake for about 35 minutes in my fan oven at 160C (180C in a non fan oven or Gas mark 4). It is ready when it is risen and springy to the touch. It is worth keeping an eye on it towards the end of cooking as dark chocolate cakes have a tendency to burn without us noticing!
I usually simply ice with melted white chocolate but any icing of your choice would work well here. Great opportunity to get creative! On the photo here, I used edible flowers: calendula petals and borage flowers as I wanted to use yellow and blue to welcome Ukrainian refugees to the area.