Healthy Chocolate Beetroot Cake

You can have your cake and eat it too!

Only 2 days in and it was time to celebrate Lachlan’s Birthday. To accompany the Star Wars decor (deadly serious) I thought it was appropriate to make Lach’s favourite type of cake…Chocolate! Little did he know that it was a healthy, gluten free, coconut sugar and packed with Beetroot (yes, you read correctly!)

I have t say, I had my doubts. I’ve had beetroot cakes before but they have been filled with sugary, buttery goodness. So, I decided to get my thinking hat on and create a healthy version and it payed off! It’s moist, flavoursome and extremely rich…just they way I like it!

If you’d like to have the recipe to keep it’s here:

what you need

healthy chocolate beetroot cake

350g beetroot, peeled, cut in 3cm pieces
350g 70% dark chocolate, chopped evenly
4 tbs organic coconut oil
6 free range eggs
1 cup coconut sugar
2 cups hazelnut meal

candied beetroots

1 cup coconut sugar
1 cup water
2 small beetroots, peeled, sliced thinly

Vanilla crème fraîche

250g crème fraîche
1 tsp vanilla extract

let’s create

1. Cook beetroot in a small saucepan of boiling water for 45 minutes or until soft. Drain (reserve 2 tablespoons of boiling liquid). Process beetroot in a food processor with reserved liquid until a smooth purée is formed. You should have about 1 cups worth of beetroot puree.
2. Preheat oven to 160°C. Using coconut oil, grease a round springform pan.
3. On a double boiler add coconut oil and chocolate. Stir until melted and glossy.
4. Whisk free range eggs, coconut sugar and hazelnut meal in a large bowl until combined. Add chocolate mixture and beetroot purée to your egg mix then whisk to combine.
5. Pour mixture into pan and cover with foil.
6. Bake cake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until cooked around the edge with a slight wobble in the centre (it should still look firm with a little wobble). Remove foil and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
7. To make the candied beetroot, stir coconut sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and bring to the boil. Slice the beetroot using a mandolin then add to the boiling liquid. Cook for 20 minutes or until beetroot slices become slightly translucent and syrup thickens. Transfer beetroot from syrup to a baking-paper-lined oven tray and bake on 120°C or 20 minutes until crisp. Reserve 1 cup of the syrup to glaze the cake later on.
8. When you’re ready to serve, place cake on a serving platter. Top with crème fraîche and drizzle with sauce and candied beets.
9. Enjoy!