Chocolate beetroot cake

Looking back, the past week has been quite an uneventful one, save from going to and fro from the airport to send my family members for their trip overseas. (yes, I'm envious, I won't be able to board a plane til' the middle of 2011.. anyways, it's just too far off to think about now)

Hence, my being in the kitchen to experiment with a few new recipes seems like a perfect diversion from all this Christmas holiday travels that everybody's talking about...

So I marched to the kitchen, looked into the fridge and amongst my meager fridge inventory, I saw a few fresh bulbs of beetroot, gleaming ruby red in color as if trying to scream "pick me! pick me!". So I did pick 'em, washed 'em, steamed 'em then this chocolate-y beetroot cake recipe came to mind soon after....

CHOCOLATE BEETROOT CAKE  

Ingredients: 

190 g caster sugar

50 g cocoa powder

180 g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 

a pinch of salt

270 g steamed, peeled beetroot (1 medium sized bulb)

3 medium eggs

200 g margarine, melted, cooled

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C, line a 15 cm square bake pan of medium thickness with baking paper. (you can also use 18 cm round/ square if you'd like)
2. Sift cocoa powder, flour, baking powder & salt together twice. Mix with the sugar, set aside.
3. Puree/ mash the steamed beetroot, add in the eggs gradually. 
4. Blend the flour mixture with the beetroot mixture with a spatula, adding the melted margarine & vanilla as you go. Mix until just blended.
5. Bake for approximately 55 minutes (depending on the pan's size) or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted at the centre of the cake.
6. Allow to cool in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack.

This cake turned out to be quite dense and moist, and rather chocolate-y with the subtle hint of the earthy beetroot lending its sweetness to it. I simply dusted it with some more cocoa powder for a bittersweet finish, but I imagine it will also be delish if you have some fresh/ frozen berries to make compote to be enjoyed alongside the cake. It would then become more festive and even befitting of a Christmas season's dessert!