Ingredients
Cake
- 300g good quality dark chocolate
- 80g coconut oil
- 3 eggs or 3 'chia seed eggs' for a completely vegan cake (blend 3 tbs chia seeds with 6 tbs water (or 9 tbs of water if it seems a little dry) and leave to sit for a couple of minutes)
- 1¼ cups coconut sugar (or panela or 1 cup brown or raw sugar)
- ½ cup pure maple syrup (or ¼ cup coconut sugar or sugar of choice)
- 1 tbs vanilla bean paste or extract
- ¾ cup buckwheat flour
- 1½ cups almond meal
- ½ tsp bicarb soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ cup cacao powder
- 400g raw beetroot, peeled, grated, or blitzed in a food processor until fine
- ¾ cup milk of your choice
- ½ tsp sea salt
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
- 3 large ‘just ripe’ avocados
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, softened
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 3 tbs cacao powder
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 200g dark chocolate, melted & slightly cooled
Method
Cake
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C / 350°F (fan forced)
- Grease and paper line two 20cm cake tins.
- Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Once melted, set aside to cool slightly.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs, coconut sugar, vanilla, and maple until thick and light.
- Fold in the buckwheat flour, almond meal, cacao powder, bi-carb, baking powder and sea salt.
- Next fold in the grated beetroot, milk, and melted chocolate, and mix gently until just combined.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 50 - 60 minutes depending on your oven.
- Once the cakes are cooked remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
*If you are planning on frosting the cakes relatively quickly, place them into the freezer for about an hour or until completely cool.
Frosting
- In a food processor add the avocado and blend until super smooth (this will take 2-3 minutes). Taking the time on this step will ensure the frosting is silky smooth, which is exactly what we want.
- Next add the coconut oil, maple, cacao powder, vanilla, sea salt, and blend until smooth (1-2 minutes).
- Finally, add the melted chocolate and blend until smooth (a further 1-2 minutes).
- Place the mixture into the fridge for an hour or two to firm up before frosting the cakes.
To Assemble the Cake
- Ensure the cakes are completely cold before frosting (this will prevent any melted frosting disasters).
- Place the first cake layer onto your serving plate then scoop a couple of large spoonfuls of frosting onto the cake and smooth with the back of a spoon or a frosting spatular.
- Place the second cake on top then add more frosting to the top of the second layer and around the sides of the now 2 layered cake.
- Smooth the frosting around the cake with a tall frosting spatular until smooth.
- Decorate simply with a dusting of cocoa OR flaked chocolate, dried beets, or berries. Enjoy!