This recipe is the reason that I have finally (after a couple of years of thinking!) started my blog… So many people have requested it that I thought it would be so much easier to point them to a blog instead of giving it to everyone individually – so thank you, friends and family, for the incentive to finally share my recipes with you all!
This cake has a dark caramel chocolate flavour, and a delicately crispy crust on the top. I love it with or without the icing, and this is the cake that my kids always request for their birthdays…
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- 250 grams beetroot I use organic, vacuum packed pre-cooked beetroot to make this easier! I also include the beetroot juices that come in the pack too.
- 190 grams extra virgin coconut oil melted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla powder optional
- 90 grams coconut sugar
- 1/3 cup maple syrup 1/3 UK cup is 80 ml
- 125 grams brown rice flour make sure this is very finely milled, some brands can give the cake an unpleasant crunch!
- 75 grams ground almonds
- 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 tsp salt I use Himalayan rock salt
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
- 4 tbsp carob powder this comes in many different strengths, for this recipe I use an unroasted lighter carob, but most would work fine.
- 3 160 ml cans coconut cream
- 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/4 UK cup is 60 ml
- 3 tbsp cacao powder
Ingredients
Wet ingredients for the cake
Dry ingredients for the cake
Chocolate icing
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- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade and prepare cupcake cases or line your cake tins or tray depending on how you like your cake (I use If You Care Baking Paper as I get through a lot of baking paper!)! I think these come out best as cupcakes as they’re lighter, but I often make a tray bake for ease or a double layer round cake for birthdays - it's up to you 🙂
- Place the beetroot, coconut oil, vanilla powder, coconut sugar and maple syrup into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir them all together.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together (don’t take too long on this stage as the bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar begin to react creating wonderful bubbles that make your cake rise).
- Spoon the mixture into cupcakes or pour into your lined cake tins and bake! 19 small cupcakes took about 35 minutes in my uneven fan oven, and 2 cakes in 22 cm tins took between 30 and 35 minutes - if a skewer inserted comes out clean then they are done.
- Pop them onto a cooling rack. Once they’re cool, if you haven’t eaten them already, then try topping with my coconut cream chocolate icing for a special treat...
- Leave the coconut cans in the fridge so that the cream separates from the water (I usually have a few always in the fridge for when I need them).
- Open the cans and take out the hardened coconut cream from the top, leaving the thick coconut water underneath still in the can. You could use this water in a smoothie or something else as it’s not needed for this recipe.
- Mix the hardened cream with the maple syrup and sift in the cacao powder. Mix well! I often use a whisk to get rid of little white flecks of coconut cream. You can add more maple syrup or cacao powder depending on how sweet and how chocolatey you like it.
- Once your chocolate cakes have cooled, spread this over and enjoy!
I have found that this cake doesn't rise to create the classic dome shape as the batter is quite runny (this helps to create the lightness). This means that when you make a birthday cake you tend to get 2 round quite flat cakes. We don't mind this, and smothering the whole lot (and in the middle) in a good layer of coconut cream icing makes it look fabulous anyway! If making a double layer cake you'll need more icing to do the sides as well - I use 5 small cans of coconut cream, 5 tbsp of cacao and 1/3 cup maple syrup.
It's also great if you accidentally make too much of the icing and have some left over in the fridge to enjoy, mmmmm!