Vegan & Gluten-Free Chocolate Beetroot Cake
The title says it all.
The actual cake baking starts at 1:04 minutes!
Recipes from my cookbook Lick Your Plate available at galasorganickitchen.com
Filmed in Australia May 2020 for VTV Sydney
Music by trevorbrownmusic.com
Chocolate Beetroot Cake
with Raspberries and Avocado Chocolate Icing
What a marvellous idea that vegetables can hide in cakes. When I first read, tried and tasted this ingenious notion, I was hooked for good. The combination in this particular recipe that I created out of lust for something sweet, chocolatey and cake-ish makes my taste buds sing! A splendid way to celebrate, for example, the full moon with decadence. You don’t have to make the icing, but it does lend a more celebratory flair to your cake experience. The antioxidants from the cacao in the icing also make one extra happy which is always a good thing. I have lost count how many times I’ve made this cake, trying different variations, and I believe through years of tasting that this version will satisfy your cravings for a decadent and health conscious chocolate cake to melt your heart.
MAKES 1 MEDIUM ROUND CAKE ENOUGH TO FEED ABOUT 12
Dry ingredients
2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour, or maize flour
1/2 cup cacao powder
1 and a 1/2 cups Rapadura, or other unrefined sugar, such as Muscovado or coconut sugar
1 tsp bicarb
Pinch salt
Wet ingredients
2 tbsp flaxmeal, soaked in 1/2 cup rice milk for 10 minutes
1 cup rice milk mixed with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, let sit 10 minutes
1/2 cup coconut oil, or light olive oil works too
1 tbsp vanilla extract
More ingredients
1 medium beetroot, 150g, grated finely
2 cups or 200g raspberries fresh, or frozen but definitely thawed
Chocolate Avocado Icing (page 260)
ACTION!
Mix the milk with the vinegar and let sit. Mix the flax meal with the milk and let sit. Quick, you've got 10 minutes to do the rest!
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Line a medium cake tin with baking paper. Melt the coconut oil.
In a bowl sift the dry ingredients well, in another bowl mix the wet ingredients.
Take a deep breath, combine the dry ingredients into the wet ones, then add the beetroot and mix a little more.
Add the berries and fold through very gently. Pour into the cake tin and bake for about an hour.
You don’t want to overbake this cake, so check after 45 minutes by inserting a knife in the middle, if it comes out clean, it’s ready.
Also, your house should smell like chocolate-heaven when the cake is perfectly baked.
Let the cake cool 15-30 minutes, then remove from the cake tin and allow to cool before covering with the avocado chocolate icing.
If you skip the cooling step then the cake may fall apart when slicing.
If you want a quick icing, try this easyone instead: when the cake comes out ofthe oven and is still hot, spread maple syrup with a brush over the top and sprinkle with cacao.
Et voilà.
Tip
It’s vital that the berries are thawed otherwise the cake won’t bake properly. Trust me I’ve tried it. It’s not worth it. You could use mixed berries too, or none at all.
Enjoy,
Maria-Carin Gala