BLUEBERRY BEETROOT CHOCOLATE CAKE

This is a super food, super rich and moist cake, full of the good purple stuff. Gluten free and dairy free, to boot!!

Jill Dupleix’s book ‘New Food’ released back in the 90s was a revelation introducing us to the combination of beetroot and chocolate. Here’s yet another version of that mixed with Red Hill blueberries.

200ml extra virgin olive oil

100g dark chocolate (75% cocao), chopped

200g almond meal

75g (½ cup) cocoa powder 

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch sea salt

200g (1 cup) brown sugar

3 free range eggs

1teaspoon vanilla extract

1 medium (150g) beetroot, cooked, peeled and pureed

250g blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over a medium heat until warmed through. Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the chocolate until melted. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk in the sugar to combine. 

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Then continue to whisk while pouring in the oil and chocolate mixture until well combined. Stir in the beetroot puree to combine. Fold into the dry ingredients to combine well. Stir through half of the blueberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Scatter the remaining berries over the top. Bake for 60 minutes. Cool completely in the tin. Cut into 16 squares, or smaller if you prefer. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.