CCC No 1 - Chocolate Beetroot Cake

In honour of the inaugural South Lancashire Clandestine Cake Club, i need a reliable but showy recipe. This cake has already been featured on BBC Radio Lancashire and on BBC North West Tonight, so I thought it fitted the bill.

Ingredients

• 180ml sunflower oil
• 190g self raising flour
• 60g cocoa powder ( i use Green & Blacks)
• 1tsp bicarb
• 250g caster sugar
• 250g cooked beetroot
• 3 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extract or 1/4tsp vanilla paste

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c

Oil and line a round cake tin, approx 23cm in diameter, I use a spring clip one, its easier.

In a large bowl sift the flour, cocoa and bicarb, stir in the sugar.

Puree the beetroot in a processor , until well pureed. Add the dry ingredients, then add the eggs and vanilla and then the oil. Mix well and then pour into your prepared tin.

Bake in the oven for approx 45 - 50 mins, or cooked when tested with a skewer. Remove and cool on a wire tray.

To ice mix 250g icing sugar with a little water and red or pink colouring to make a thick icing, pour over the icing and allow to set. Now you let your artistic side reign free and melt white and dark chocolate separately in the microwave, about 25g of each type and then drizzle all over the cake.

The cake went down very well with the South Lancs Clandestine cake club members.

If you are interested in joining the South Lancs Clandestine cake club check out the link.