Beetroot Cake

• butter↗250g g

  plus extra for greasing

• dark chocolate↗200g g

  chopped into pieces

• plain flour↗500g g
• golden sugar↗500g g
• cocoa powder↗2 tbsp tbsp
• baking soda↗1 tsp tsp
• salt↗½ tsp tsp
• large eggs↗2
• natural yogurt↗200g g
• cooked beetroot400g g

  in its own juice (not in vinegar)

• red food colouring↗4 tbsp or 2 x 28ml bottles

  optional (we used Scarlett Langdale – natural liquid colouring not suitable)

• full‑fat cream cheese↗200g g

  at room temperature

• butter↗250g g

  soft

• icing sugar↗400g g

  sifted

• vanilla extract↗2 tsp tsp
• цукеркиa few

  для прикраси, за бажанням (ми використовували желейні сердечка з кондитерської)

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 180 °C/160 °C fan/gas 4. Prepare the first cake layer by greasing and lining two 20 cm round tins. Gently melt 125 g butter and 100 g dark chocolate together in a saucepan. Mix 250 g flour, 250 g sugar, 1 tbsp cocoa, ½ tsp bicarbonate and ¼ tsp salt in a large bowl. Whisk one egg with 100 g natural yogurt and 200 g cooked beetroot in a food processor or blender until fairly smooth. Set aside.

2. 2

   Pour the beet mixture into the dry ingredients together with the melted chocolate mixture and 150 ml boiling water, then stir. Add half the food colouring, if using, and divide the batter between the tins. Bake for 25 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cakes on a rack to cool completely.

3. 3

   Repeat steps 1 and 2 to make two more cakes – or, if you’re lucky enough to have four 20 cm tins, you can bake a large batch at once.

4. 4

   For the frosting, quickly beat together full‑fat cream cheese and butter, then add icing sugar and vanilla and beat. Use a little frosting to glue the cooled cakes together, and spread the remaining frosting over the whole surface of the assembled cake and decorate with sweets if desired. Place the cake in a cool place (not the fridge) to set slightly before serving.