Despite the beetroot it is one of the best chocolate cakes EVER
Ingredients
2 x 20cm cake tines, greased and lined
3-4 medium beetroots (500g in total) - although you actually only need 250g in the end but if you hate the vile stuff like me you can stick it in the freezer so you dont need to deal with it next time
300g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon salt
175 g unsalted butter
275g brown sugar
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
2tsp vanilla extract 100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces and melted
150ml buttermilk mixed with 2tsp of cider vinegar
Buttercream ingredients
250g unsalted butter
2tsp vanilla extract
600g icing sugar
200g cream cheese (drained)
Method for the cake
1. Cook the beetroot in a pan covered with water for 30-40 minutes. Cool, then peel.
2. Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 c
4. Whizz the beetroot in a blender to make a puree, adding a little water if necessary.
5. Sift together the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate and salt.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla, then add the cooled, melted chocolate.
7. Slowly add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the batter.
8. Stir in 250ml of the beetroot puree and continue to mix.
9. Divide the batter between the tins and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
10. Leave to cool, slice in half and layer with buttercream icing
Method for buttercream
1. Cream butter and vanilla together with an electric whisk, add the icing sugar beating well
2. Beat in the cream cheese