Chocolate beetroot cake with mascarpone frosting

Ingredients

For 12 servings

• •250 g plain flour
• •55 g cocoa powder
• •1 c. à café baking powder
• •1 c. à café bicarbonate of soda
• •1 c. à café ground nutmeg
• •1 c. à café fine sea salt
• •200 g golden caster sugar
• •110 g light brown soft sugar
• •2 c. à café instant coffee powder
• •100 ml coconut oil melted, plus extra for the tin
• •160 ml coconut cream melted at room temperature
• •2 c. à café vanilla extract
• •2 large eggs at room temperature
• •120 g large raw beetroot (120g) grated
• •250 g mascarpone
• •2 c. à soupe honey
• •20 g icing sugar
• •2 c. à café vanilla bean paste
• •75 ml double cream
• •20 g dark chocolate grated

Method

1. 1.For the cake batter, tip all the dry ingredients (except the coffee powder) into a large bowl and whisk to combine. In a jug, combine the coffee powder with 200ml hot water and whisk to dissolve. Pour the coconut oil, coconut cream and vanilla into the coffee mixture. Making sure the mixture is cool to the touch, add the eggs, one by one, whisking to combine.
2. 2.Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Oil and line a 23cm cake tin with baking parchment. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk gently until no flour streaks remain, making sure not to overmix. Stir through the grated beetroot. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50 mins, until the sponge is springy and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
3. 3.Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the mascarpone with the honey, icing sugar and vanilla bean paste until smooth. Slowly pour in the double cream and whisk again until smooth and the mixture forms soft peaks. Be careful not to overwhisk.
4. 4.Once the cake has cooled, spread the mascarpone cream on top of the cake, then grate over the dark chocolate.