A dense and fudgy dark chocolate beetroot cake with dairy free chocolate ganache frosting and marzipan eggs, perfect to celebrate Easter or any other cake-worthy life event.
1teaspooninstant coffee, dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water (or 1 tablespoon strong brewed coffee)
For the chocolate ganache:
250gdark chocolate, (8.8 oz) I used Whittaker's Dark Ghana 72%
1cupfull fat coconut cream
For the marzipan:
100galmond meal, (3.5 oz) finely ground
70gicing sugar, (2.5 oz)
Pinchsalt
1teaspoonlemon juice
2-4teaspoonwater
For decoration (optional):
Pistachio nuts, chopped
Pashmak or candy floss
Instructions
For the marzipan:
Start by making the marzipan, either the night before to give it plenty of time to chill, or earlier in the day on the day you plan to decorate the cake.
A smooth marzipan relies on finely ground almond meal. I recommend giving it a quick blast in your blender or food processor to make it extra fine, then sieve it to remove any chunky bits.
Combine almond meal and icing sugar in a bowl.
Add lemon juice, then 1-2 teaspoon of water and stir. Add additional water with extreme care, just one teaspoon too many can make the mixture too wet to work with. I found 3 teaspoon to be the perfect amount, allowing the dough to come together and be kneaded into a firm, pliable consistency.
You can replace 1 teaspoon of the water with vanilla, almond extract, amaretto, rum, rosewater, maple syrup, or another flavouring of your choice.
If your marzipan dough becomes too wet or sticky, knead in a little more icing sugar (a little at a time).
Wrap the marzipan dough tightly in cling film and refrigerate.
For the chocolate beetroot cake:
Preheat oven to 180C (350F) fanbake, and grease and line a 23cm (9") spring form cake pan.
Clean and trim the beetroot, then wrap tightly in foil. Roast for about one hour, or until tender when tested with a bread and butter knife. Open the foil and allow beets to cool enough to handle. Remove the skins (they'll just slide off) and puree the beet in a blender or food processor. If you're using a food processor, you might like to pass the puree through a sieve to make sure it's smooth. Scrape the puree into a bowl and set aside.
Turn oven temperature down to 170C (340F).
Mix 3 tablespoon of ground flaxseed (linseed) with half a cup of water and set aside. It will thicken and become gel-like.
Mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer: sugar, oat flour, brown rice flour, cocoa, tapioca flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Measure one cup of beetroot puree and put it back in the blender. Add almond milk, vanilla extract, vinegar and coffee. Blend to combine, then pour in melted coconut oil while the blender is running (this prevents it from setting or separating as it meets with cold ingredients).
Pour wet ingredients from the blender into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. Add the ground flaxseed and water, then beat until smooth and well combined.
Pour cake batter into greased and lined cake pan, then bake for an hour, or until a skewer comes out fairly clean. This is a moist, fudgy cake, so it will never be perfectly clean.
Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool completely in the cake pan. Don't be tempted to remove it too soon, otherwise it will break.
For the chocolate ganache:
When you are ready to decorate your room temperature cake, chop or break chocolate into small pieces and put in a mixing bowl.
Heat coconut cream in a saucepan until nearly simmering, but remove from the heat before it begins to bubble. Pour coconut cream over the chocolate and leave to sit for a few minutes.
Slowly stir the coconut cream and chocolate until well combined, thick and glossy (it will take a few minutes). Be gentle, chocolate likes to be treated with care.
If the ganache is thick enough, spread ganache thickly over the top of your cake. If it is too soft, leave it to cool for a few minutes first.
Decorate top of the cake with chopped nuts, pashmak or candy floss (optional).
If using marzipan decorations, roll small eggs or other shapes and arrange them on top of the nuts, pashmak or candy floss. For pink marzipan, knead a ¼ teaspoon of beetroot puree into the marzipan dough beforehand.