Beetroot teacake

I don't eat a lot of pickled beetroot. I like it, but I don't eat huge quantities of it. However, I still grow fresh beetroot in my garden, because their preferred use, is in cakes. I haven't eaten chocolate-beetroot cake for a while, because I love my teacake recipe too much!

Be prepared for a shock however, because without cocoa powder (as in the chocolate cake recipe) the purple colour of beetroot, takes centre stage...

Don't be put off though, because during the cooking process it changes completely. Topped with my favourite cream cheese frosting, and this cake is always a winner. Because it's light, tangy and just a little bit sweet.

The tang comes from the lemon juice and zest, while the sweet comes from the currants. There is sugar in the batter too, but it helps hide the savoury flavour of the beets. I wouldn't call this an overly sweet cake though.

I make this with gluten-free plain flour, but you can just as easily use regular plain flour. So here is my recipe for Beetroot teacake:

Cake:

125g softened butter
1 cup raw sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain yoghurt (I use Greek)
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 fresh beet (200g) puréed
1 1/2  cups plain flour (Gluten Free or Regular)
1 teaspoon bicarb
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup currants


Preheat oven to moderate (160 degrees Celsius for me - check your type of oven HERE.) Then grease and line a round 8" cake pan, and set aside.

Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cream together with a hand mixer, for about a minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, blending in between. Add the rest of the ingredients, leaving out the currants, and mix for about a minute. When the batter is nice and smooth, stir in the currants with a wooden spoon or spatula. The mix should be more light, than dense, but the currants won't sink to the bottom either.

Pour into prepared pan, and bake for roughly 35-45 minutes. Depending how accurate your temp is inside your oven, it may have to cook up to an hour. Don't open the oven before 35 minutes however, or your cake will sag in the middle. It should spring back, when gently pressed in the centre and have a skewer come out clean, when inserted in the middle. That is when it is cooked.

Once out of the oven, let stand for 5-10 minutes, before turning onto a cake rack. Cool completely before adding the frosting:

Frosting:

125g cream cheese @ room temp (NOT the spreadable variety, it's too soft)
30g softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup icing sugar
  *add extra 1/2 cup if too thin to hold it's form - depends on cream cheese


Place all ingredients in a bowl with high sides. Blend with a hand mixer, until smooth. This should be enough frosting to spread on top of the cake, and lightly around the sides.

Keep cake in the fridge, as it has a lot of dairy in it. Take cut slices and let them sit at room temperature, for 10 minutes before consuming. It's nice cold, but even nicer when its had a chance to come to room temperature. Is at it's best for 5 days, in the fridge, but can be kept for up to a week.