Beets & chocolate - the Yin & Yang of flavours, the sweet and the bitter.
Best desserts are all about contrasting flavours and textures and the combination of beets and chocolate gives you just that. This wickedly chocolatey dessert (recipe below) is moist, rich, intense, light, airy, heavenly and sinister - everything you could ever want in a dessert… are you drooling yet? Right, I thought so ;-)
It was my best friend’s birthday and one of the gifts she wished for on her special day was a delicious but healthy cake. Since I know her well I knew that no store-bought imitation would live up to her expectations. After doing a little brainstorming, it seemed to me that a rich chocolate cake with whipped cream could just do the trick. Thankfully, while searching for inspirations I happened to come across Nigella Lawson’s beetroot cake! I know at first it sounds super weird, beet in a cake? Crazy! Luckily, I’ve just purchased some beets from Fields (the Shanghai online grocery shop) so I thought I might as well try it out. However, since I only make healthy cakes… aka no refined sugar, no wheat, no hydrogenated oils, no corn syrup or other questionable ingredients I needed to alter Nigella’s recipe completely. I decided to experiment and make my own version of Beet Cake that would not only please taste buds but also be jam-packed with nutrients! Guess what I succeed without compromising the flavour, of course! My lovely friend Felicia absolutely loved it and this was what mattered the most after all.
Here is the recipe…
Sinisterly Heavenly Chocolate Beet Cake
INGREDIENTS
3 medium beetroots
3 tablespoons coconut flour
½ cup raw cacao powder
½ cup avocado oil
3 free-range eggs, at room temperature
½ cup raw honey
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, optional
1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
a pinch of sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 180 C. Wash and remove stems of the beets. Place them on tin foil, wrap tightly and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, unwrap and cool completely. Peel the skin from the beets and slice them up.
Preheat oven to 170 C and grease a glass baking dish (8x8).
Add all the ingredients including the beets in a food processor and blitz until fully mixed together.
Pour the batter into the baking dish and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool for 30 minutes. Once chilled generously cover the cake with chocolate ganache.
Chocolate Ganache (Frosting)
3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup coconut cream or double cream
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons of unsweetened coconut flakes
pinch of sea salt
Combine raw cocoa, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and butter in a small saucepan. Melt, stirring frequently until the mixture is smooth. Generously drizzle the sauce over the cake. Decorate it with desiccated coconut.
Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream (cold)
3 drops of vanilla extract (optional)
Whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form. The whipped cream compliments the bitterness of dark chocolate beautifully. As I said is all about the Yin & Yang balance of flavours.
Ooh and the biggest surprise is that you won’t notice the beet flavour at all.
Since it was a super special day I served this cake not only with cream but also with another sweet treat… beet bliss balls. Not only these balls look adorable, but also are super healthy, easy to make and taste delish! All the boxes are ticked! Woohoo!
Beet Bliss Balls (makes 20 balls)
INGREDIENTS
3 medium roasted beetroots, peeled and chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons raw honey
½ cup raw cacao powder
2 cups desiccated coconut
1 to 2 tablespoons coconut butter (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
place beetroots in a food processor and blitz until finely grated
add remaining ingredients and blitz until well combined
spoon out and roll into balls
roll each ball in desiccated coconut or beetroot powder for the extra pinkish look ;-)
refrigerate for at least three hours
You can definitely enjoy these Beet Balls as a little pick-me-up without guilt! These bad boys are loaded with fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. Let’s face it, you can’t beat the beet!
Remember eating healthy is not about restricting yourself and missing out on desserts. It’s about using the right ingredients and getting creative in the kitchen.
Don’t forget to check out my blog for more recipes. I promise there is no taste like cardboard nasties… just delicious food made from beneficial ingredients that help to improve your health instead of destroying it!
This recipe was featured in Primal Kitchen blog, read more here.
P.S. If you liked today’s beet recipes, please share this blog post on your WeChat moments or even by email with anyone you think might benefit from reading it or working with me. I'll see that you get bonus karma points for taking the few seconds to do so. Thank you x
Love,
Izabela Misiuk, MSc, ACC, PHC