Christmas bell-ringing around, the festive season is embellishing the world. I can sense how each kitchen is bustling with amateur bakers struggling and with expert bakers succeeding in their results. How can you end your Christmas without a cake? I thought of including Christmas flavours like Chocolate and Raspberry into my treat. Also, how about including Beetroot in your Chocolate cake and Raspberry in your Butter icing… sounds healthy and tasty!!! Thrilled to bake a super moist, uniquely flavored Chocolate Beetroot Cake. Added Bonus recipe, relish this heavenly treat slathered generously with a slightly tart, creamy Raspberry icing. It’s the ultimate therapy for Chocoholics to indulge in this outrageously moist and soft cake topped with silky, smooth, sweet, and tart raspberry icing.
Click here to jump to recipe card!
After a brief say on this recipe, let me list down the ingredients.
For Chocolate Beetroot Cake–
- Beetroot– this addition adds value to the texture, taste, and colour.
- Texture – It adds extra moisture to the cake.
- Taste – It enhances the flavour of the cake by its natural sweetness.
- Colour – It definitely influences the colour of the cake by its rich deep natural colour.
Also, its natural sweetness helps to keep the sugar level low. This results in using less quantity of sugar in the cake. Fresh or frozen, packed Beetroot can be used. It has to be chopped, cooked, and puréed.
2. Self-Raising Flour – it’s a pre-mixed flour that has raising or any leavening agent incorporated in it along with salt. Here, I used store-bought self-raising flour. You can make your homemade Self-raising flour by simply mixing All-purpose flour with baking powder and salt. Store-bought self-raising flour is made from low protein all-purpose flour which makes it apt for biscuits, pancakes, soft cakes, and cupcakes. If you substitute homemade self-raising flour ( by mixing high protein all-purpose purpose flour with baking powder and salt) for the recipes asking store-bought self-raising flour, it’ll not affect the output, but slightly result in less tender bakes. The reason is when mixed with any liquid, low protein produces less gluten, whereas high protein produces high gluten. Gluten gives structure to baked food but too much gluten can make your bakes tough. You can substitute all-purpose flour for self-raising flour. But, you shouldn’t substitute self-raising flour for plain all-purpose flour in recipes. To prepare 1 cup of homemade self-raising flour mix 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 ½ tsp of baking powder and ¼ tsp salt.
3. Baking powder– Despite self-raising flour having baking powder in it, this recipe needs extra baking powder. This is because adding heavy wet ingredients like Beetroot puree will sink the cake. In order to give an added lift to the cake, this extra addition is needed.
4. Cocoa powder– an inevitable ingredient for any chocolate cake. Few recipes include dark chocolate as well along with the cocoa powder. If you too are a chocoholic and can handle it, go ahead 😍😍.
5. Golden Caster sugar – In the market, you may find 2 kinds of Caster/Castor sugar, one is Regular Caster sugar and the other one is Golden Caster sugar.
a) Regular Caster sugar– it’s widely used in British and Australian baking. It has a texture somewhere between gritty white granulated sugar and powdery confectioner’s sugar. It has super-fine crystals, thus making it ideal for cakes, mousse, meringues. It incorporates into delicate cakes and dissolves easily in cocktails due to its finer texture.
Substitute for Regular caster sugar– pulse the granulated white sugar in a blender or food processor till you get finer crystals but not powdery consistency.
b) Golden Caster Sugar– this is obtained from unrefined sugar cane or sugar beets, which results in a warm golden color and possess a slightly buttery and caramel flavour.
Substitutes for Golden caster sugar-
- Regular caster sugar– It would be the ideal substitute. It’ll give the same result as golden caster sugar, in the texture aspect. While the taste aspect, you’ll hardly find any difference in flavour.
- Demerara or Turbinado Sugar – this has the closest flavour and colour to golden caster sugar. Only the texture-wise, it’s much bigger than the caster. To turn this sugar into the best substitute for the caster, just run it in a blender to match the crystal size as finer as the caster and then use it in baking goods.
DO NOT use Brown sugar as a substitute for caster sugar. The high moisture content in brown sugar will not give the desired result as they affect the texture.
6. Oil– use any neutrally flavoured vegetable oil for the fat content of the cake. Here, I used sunflower oil. You can use canola oil or olive oil. I recommend using another 2 tbsp (30 ml) in addition to the 200 ml mentioned in the recipe, it’ll help to keep the cake moist.
7. Mixed berries– you can choose any range of berries, according to the availability. Decorate the cake with different berries. But keep in mind if you are storing the cake in a refrigerator or room temperature, remove the berries, as the moisture content will rot the berries or turn them moldy. Or garnish the cake slices with berries only while serving. This will extend the life of the cake few more days.
8. Icing – I prefer this cake to be slathered with icing which complements the rich chocolate flavor of the cake. Here, I used Raspberry icing whose sharp tart flavour well complemented the dense chocolate flavour. You can also go with cream cheese frosting or a rich chocolate ganache icing. I have shared the recipe for Raspberry icing as well.
For Raspberry icing, you require minimal ingredients.
- Raspberry jam seedless– this is easily available in markets. Use only seedless jam to get smooth icing. If you cannot fetch Raspberry jam, can try with mixed berry jam as well but it should be seedless. Another alternative, prepare your homemade seedless jam. Cook and mash equal quantities of berry and sugar, along with a few tsps of lemon juice in a pan. Strain it through a steel sieve thoroughly by pressing with a spatula. Transfer this puree into the pan again and reduce it till it forms the jam consistency.
- Butter– use any brand of unsalted butter, but it has to be kept at room temperature, should be softened while whipping.
- Powdered sugar– simply blend the granulated sugar into powdered form. Sieve it if required. Or you can buy the confectioner’s sugar or Icing sugar from the stores.
Let’s get into the recipe.
Keep all the wet ingredients at room temperature.
Keep all the dry ingredients at room temperature.
Finely chop the Beetroot and pressure cook it with water for multiple whistles or till it’s completely cooked. Now measure the cooked beetroot cubes which should weigh 250 gm. I used 2 medium-sized beetroots for this.
After it has cooled down, grind it as a smooth puree with 2 tbsp of water (refer to notes).
Take a small bowl, using a balloon whisk beat the 3 whole eggs for a minute, till it forms a uniform mixture.
Take a wide bowl, transfer the beaten eggs, add vanilla essence and whisk thoroughly.
To this add the sunflower oil (any vegetable oil), and whisk it to mix well (refer notes).
Finally, add the ground beetroot puree, combine well with the balloon whisk. Your wet ingredients are ready, keep it aside.
Now, take another wide bowl, place a sieve, add self-raising flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder to it.
And sift it.
Then add the golden caster sugar and stir well to mix it with the sifted mixture. Your dry ingredients are ready.
Meanwhile, grease a 9”/ 23 cm springform or any loose-bottomed cake pan with butter and place a wax paper/parchment paper to the base and rim of the pan.
Also, preheat the oven to 180° C/350°F/Gas 4 for 10-15 minutes. For preheating, always use toast mode in the oven, that is both top and the bottom rod have to be heated + convection function (means with the fan on). While preheating, make sure the baking tray is there in the oven (refer to notes). Now pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
And gently blend well with a spatula (refer notes).
Transfer the cake batter into the greased, lined cake pan. Then tap the pan a few times, gently on the table to remove any air pockets in between the batter.
Use a spatula to level the cake on the top. Place the pan on the baking tray which is in the middle of the preheated oven. Most importantly, change the functional mode from toast to baking, that is only the bottom rod heated + convection function (means with the fan on, refer notes).
Bake it for 18-25 minutes maintaining the same 180° C/350°F/Gas 4 temperature. Timing may differ depending upon your oven’s make. It shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes (refer to notes). While the cake is baking, prepare the Raspberry icing which is the cherry on the cake. Especially, the sharp tart flavour of the raspberry icing excellently complements the rich chocolate flavour. Refer to my recipe here for this creamy, smooth icing.
If you feel the top of the cake is browning too much (turning dark), and baking is still on, then intermediately remove it from the oven. Cover lightly with foil and place it back in the oven and continue baking till the set time.
Insert a toothpick, if it comes clean or is stuck with tiny crumbs, it’s perfectly baked, remove it from the oven.
And let it cool for a minimum of 30 mins–1 hour. After the given cooling time, release the lock in the springform pan and take out the disc (refer to video and pic).
Remove the side parchment papers and also the base gently by sliding the knife to detach it completely.
Place the cake on the turntable. Then, using a cake leveler/slicer, cut the cake in the middle to make a layered cake (optional step).
Keep the second layer aside.
On the bottom layer, slather the raspberry icing generously onto it.
And level with the icing spatula.
Place carefully the top layer.
And give a naked cake finish (by applying the icing unevenly to see through the cake). Level the sides and top with an icing spatula to give a smooth finish (check video).
Once the icing is done, decorate with mixed berries like strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, and red currant of your choice to give a vibrant colour to the cake (refer notes).
Rich and moist Chocolate beetroot cake smothered with an amalgamation of tart and sweet flavoured Raspberry icing is an exquisite delicacy, every bite is so delectable, you’ll commit this sin, frequently and merrily. Be a part of sinfully de(si)licious…😍😍❣.
You can store this cake in the refrigerator for a week. But make sure you remove the berries from the topping and place it only while serving (refer notes). Also, immediately do not serve the cake after taking it from the refrigerator. Icing will be hardened, so let the icing on the cake come to room temperature and get softened before serving.
Recipe card
Preparation time:15 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Cuisine: International
Category: Desserts
Serves: 15-16 cake slices
Author: Manimala
Ingredients-
Wet Ingredients-
Cooked Beetroot cubes – 250 gm
Eggs, beaten – 3
Sunflower oil – 200 + 30 ml
Vanilla extract/essence -1 tsp
Dry ingredients –
Self-raising flour – 175 gm
Cocoa powder – 75 gm
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Golden Caster sugar – 160 gm
For Garnish –
Mixed Berries – as required
Instructions-
- Keep all the wet and dry ingredients at room temperature.
- Finely chop the Beetroot and pressure cook it with water for multiple whistles or till it’s completely cooked.
- Now measure the cooked beetroot cubes which should weigh 250 gm. I used 2 medium-sized beetroots for this.
- After it has cooled down, grind it as a smooth puree with 2 tbsp of water (refer to notes).
- Take a small bowl, using a balloon whisk beat the 3 whole eggs for a minute, till it forms a uniform mixture.
- Take a wide bowl, transfer the beaten eggs, add vanilla essence and whisk thoroughly.
- To this add the sunflower oil (any vegetable oil), and whisk it to mix well (refer notes).
- Finally, add the ground beetroot puree, combine well with the balloon whisk. Your wet ingredients are ready, keep it aside.
- Now, take another wide bowl, place a sieve and sift self-raising flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder through it.
- Then add the golden caster sugar and stir well to mix it with the sifted mixture. Your dry ingredients are ready.
- Meanwhile, grease a 9”/ 23 cm springform or any loose-bottomed cake pan with butter and place a wax paper/parchment paper to the base and rim of the pan.
- Also, preheat the oven to 180° C/350°F/Gas 4 for 10-15 minutes. For preheating, always use toast mode in the oven, that is both top and the bottom rod have to be heated + convection function (means with the fan on). While preheating, make sure the baking tray is there in the oven (refer to notes).
- Now pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently blend well with a spatula (refer notes).
- Transfer the cake batter into the greased, lined cake pan. Then tap the pan a few times, gently on the table to remove any air pockets in between the batter.
- Use a spatula to level the cake on the top. Place the pan on the baking tray which is in the middle of the preheated oven. Most importantly, change the functional mode from toast to baking, that is only the bottom rod heated + convection function (means with the fan on, refer notes).
- Bake it for 18-25 minutes maintaining the same 180° C/350°F/Gas 4 temperature. Timing may differ depending upon your oven’s make. It shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes (refer to notes).
- While the cake is baking, prepare the Raspberry icing which is the cherry on the cake. Especially, the sharp tart flavour of the raspberry icing excellently complements the rich chocolate flavour. Refer to my recipe here for this creamy, smooth icing.
- If you feel the top of the cake is browning too much (turning dark), and baking is still on, then intermediately remove it from the oven. Cover lightly with foil and place it back in the oven and continue baking till the set time.
- Insert a toothpick, if it comes clean or is stuck with tiny crumbs, it’s perfectly baked, remove it from the oven and let it cool for a minimum of 30 mins–1 hour.
- After the given cooling time, release the lock in the springform pan and take out the disc (refer to video and pic).
- Remove the side parchment papers and also the base gently by sliding the knife to detach it completely.
- Place the cake on the turntable. Then, using a cake leveler/slicer, cut the cake in the middle to make a layered cake (optional step).
- Keep the second layer aside. On the bottom layer, slather the raspberry icing generously and level with the icing spatula.
- Place carefully the top layer and give a naked cake finish (by applying the icing unevenly to see through the cake). Level the sides and top with an icing spatula to give a smooth finish (check video).
- Once the icing is done, decorate with mixed berries like strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, and red currant of your choice to give a vibrant colour to the cake (refer notes).
- Rich and moist Chocolate beetroot cake smothered with an amalgamation of tart and sweet flavoured Raspberry icing is an exquisite delicacy, every bite is so delectable, you’ll commit this sin, frequently and merrily. Be a part of sinfully de(si)licious…😍😍❣.
- You can store this cake in the refrigerator for a week. But make sure you remove the berries from the topping and place it only while serving (refer notes). Also, immediately do not serve the cake after taking it from the refrigerator. Icing will be hardened, so let the icing on the cake come to room temperature and get softened before serving.
Notes-
- Keeping all the ingredients at room temperature is mandatory for any baking.
- Measure the chopped beetroot after cooking it. Do not measure before cooking. Finely chop and pressure cook it thoroughly so when you puree the Beetroot, it should be smooth enough.
- Also, if the water has drained after cooking while grinding the beetroot add roughly 2 tbsp of water to make a smooth puree. If the water is retained while cooking, then utilize it without wasting it.
- When it comes to oil, you can choose any vegetable oil. Here, I used sunflower oil. Other alternatives are canola oil, olive oil, or soybean oil. Also, I felt my cake needed more liquid as the batter was slightly on the thicker side. I suggest you to go with an extra 30 ml along with 200 ml of the oil recommended. This 230 ml of oil will thin the batter and help in getting a moist cake.
- During preheating period, always use toast mode, so that the temperature of the oven is evenly distributed inside with the help of the heated rods on both sides and with a fan.
- Also, placing the baking tray while preheating the oven helps to provide a uniform environment for the cake to bake. While baking always places the baking tray in the middle rack for even baking.
- I highly recommend changing the functional mode from toast to bake mode when you are baking the cake. This is because when you bake only with lower rod heated + convection function (means with the fan on), it helps the cake to bake slowly and steadily with the air flowing throughout the chamber, spreading the heat evenly. When the top rod is also heated, then it may result in over-browning or forming crust on the top, while the inside of the cake is uncooked. Thus to transfer the heat uniformly and evenly, it’s always advised to go with bake mode (where only the bottom rod is heated + convection function).
- When mixing the wet and dry ingredients, I felt the batter was too thick, that’s the reason I suggested increasing the sunflower oil by 30 ml. This will give the batter the right consistency, required, and extra moisture to the cake.
- You must have noticed, I mentioned the baking time somewhere between 18-25 minutes. This is because the recipe I followed suggested for 20 minutes baking + 10 minutes baking with the top covered with foil. But my cake was already baked by 22 minutes, I felt, I should have checked before 20 minutes itself. This resulted in a bit of dry texture to my chocolate cake. So, I highly advise you to check your cake when it crosses 18 minutes, by inserting a toothpick in the middle. If it comes clean or covered with little soft crumbs, it’s the perfect time to stop baking and remove it from the oven.
- Also, don’t frequently open the oven door which results in a drop in temperature. Just open when it crossed somewhere around 18 minutes. After analyzing the status, determine roughly how long it’s required to bake further.
- I misjudged the timing, as I own 7-8 years old Sharp OTG, which always takes extra time than recommended in the recipe. If the recipe calls for 30 minutes, my oven will take 40 minutes to bake, (always 10 minutes more than demanded..😃😀). This is the first time, my bad when the recipe asked for 30 minutes, mine was done by 20 minutes…What a miracle!!!🤣🤣. The message to take home is to keep an eye on the cake once it crosses 18 minutes…do not get fooled like me 🤦♀️🤦♀️💁♀️.
- Nevertheless, if the texture was not to the expectation due to miscalculation of time, but the taste of the cake was not compromised. The taste and flavour of the cake and icing was so amazing, that my texture flaw went unnoticed…🤪😍😍.
- Caution – while decorating the cake you can choose any range of berries, according to the availability. But keep in mind if you are storing the cake in a refrigerator or room temperature, remove the berries, as the moisture content will rot the berries or turn them into moldy. Or garnish the cake slices with berries only while serving. This will extend the life of the cake for a few more days.
- For slicing the cake, I used a cake leveler, which helps you out to make layer cakes more comfortably. It creates even, straight-cut cakes which provide a neat, flat surface, apt for icing/frosting. This leveler is workable on round and square cakes as well.