Chocolate Beetroot Cake

FOR THE CAKE

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 170ºC.

Step 2: Puree the beetroot in a food processor until completely smooth.

Step 3: Add sugar and remaining wet ingredients (oil, buttermilk and eggs) to the beetroot and blitz again.

Step 4: Sift the dry ingredients (flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cocoa) together and then add them to the beetroot mix and blitz a few times, just to combine. The mix will look quite wet and a nice very deep reddish colour.

Step 5: Pour in to a greased and lined-in-one-direction 20x30cm baking tray.

Step 6: Bake for around 35 minutes (this cake cooks more quickly than you would think), but check that a skewer comes out clean from the middle.

Step 7: Leave to cool completely before icing. (Use the ends of the baking paper lining to carefully lift the cake on to a serving board).

FOR THE ICING

Step 8: Heat the cream gently and take off the heat before adding the grated chocolate. Stir to make a ganache. Pour/spread on to the cake.

Step 9: While the icing is still warm, gently melt white chocolate and then scrape in to an icing bag & pipe lines, as straight as you can, down the length of the cake. Then use the end of a wooden skewer, or similar, to drag lines at 90 degrees to the white lines. You should end up with a feathered effect.

Step 10: Let the icing set for an hour or so before serving.