I cannot believe it's Friday already and I haven't added anything to my blog as I promised, I am so sorry!!  It's also hard to believe it's mid-January already too...........

As most of you know, last weekend was the start of my new venture for 2013 ~ making something new every weekend so last Sunday I made a Chocolate Beetroot Cake (recipe obtained from www.uktv.co.uk).  During conversations with family and friends, this cake has been mentioned a few times and really grabbed my attention.  A while ago I made some Raspberry Chocolate Brownies for a good friend and found the contrast between the sourness of the Raspberries and the sweetness of the Chocolate was amazing.  So would Beetroot and Chocolate be the same?  Not quite but there was definitely the underlining taste of something new and from all the comments I've received from my Boys and my Colleagues at work, it was well worth the effort.  The Beetroot makes it a moist cake so don't doubt your oven or cooking when you cut it, it is supposed to be moist and sticks together as oppose to the normal crumb cake........

I also have never made Chocolate Ganache, this is the chocolate icing.  I let my icing cool a little bit, which thickened it to allow me to spread it over the cake but you can "pour" it over the cake whilst warmer, and then smooth it around the sides and top.  I will definitely use this Ganache again, am also going to try it with White Chocolate.

I hope you enjoy........

Ingredients

For the cake

100 g drinking chocolate
230 g self-raising flour
200 g caster sugar
100 g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids
125 g unsalted butter
250 g cooked beetroot, (not pickled!)
3 large eggs, beaten

For the cream cheese icing

250 g cream cheese
60 g unsalted butter, soft
200 g icing sugar

For the chocolate ganache

250 g whipping cream
250 g dark chocolate, chopped
grated white chocolate, to decorate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

2. Grease and line a 25cm deep round cake tin

3. Sift the drinking chocolate with the self-raising flour into a mixing bowl, and then mix in the sugar.

4. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl over hot (not boiling) water.

5. Puree the cooked beetroot in a food processor, then whisk in the beaten eggs.

6. Add the beetroot and the chocolate mixtures to the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly.

7. Pour the mixture into a greased lined 25cm cake tin. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

8. Remove from the oven and leave the cake to stand in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
9. Split the cake in half.

10. To make the filling: beat the cream cheese icing ingredients together until creamy and spread liberally on the bottom half of the cake. Place the other half of the cake on top.

11. To make the chocolate ganache: heat the cream in a pan and bring just to boiling point, then remove the pan from the heat.

12. Place a damp towel on the worktop and place the pan of hot cream on this.

13. Add the chopped chocolate to the cream and beat vigorously until thoroughly mixed. Allow to cool slightly.

14. Spread the ganache on top of the cake and leave to set.

15. Sprinkle with the white chocolate to decorate.

Watch the space for this Weekend's Treat.......