Just back from 3 days in London , a 4am start is not good for anyone, long days, late nights and when I came home all I wanted was to give my daughter a big kiss and bake some cake, not bad fat and sugar laden but something still delicious but a much better option than the pastries biscuits and desserts on offer all hours of the day when I was away. Enter this little beautie, Beetroot, Nuts, gluten free yet still moist and delicious with afternoon coffee. A drizzle of icing on top is all it needs to balance the not overly sweet moist cake mix.
Full of goodness, natural ingredients, good fats….Made it yesterday, it’s all gone today…oops.
Grease and line a 12″ round springform tin
Oven at 200c
7oz unsalted butter melted and cooled
3.5 oz coconut palm sugar or brown sugar
7oz cooked peeled and grated Beetroot
5oz mixed nuts roasted and chopped
3 eggs separated
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
7oz gluten free plain flour
3 tbsp ground almonds
3 tbsp apple or orange juice
Whisk butter and sugar until smooth about 5 minutes.
Gently beat in the Beetroot and the egg yolks. Add 2/3s of the nuts and beat again.
Stir the flours, spices and baking powder together, beat into the mixture together with the juice.
Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks and fold into the cake mixture.
Spoon into the prepared cake tin, pour over the rest of the nuts, run a pallet knife over the top to smooth and gently push the nuts into the mixture.
Bake for about 35 mins until firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean.
Let cool for about 5 mins before loosening the tin and letting it completely cool.
Mix 5 tbsp,icing sugar with 1/2 tsp vanilla and enough water to make a smooth icing. Drizzle over the cake and when set, serve and enjoy.
oliveoilandlemon 
Lovely photos. Nice cake idea too.
Ooooh, beetroot cake. I’ve made one before and they were really moist – I’ll have to give it another go now.
Never made a beetroot cake before today..made this fab cake..great recipe
Hi Rita, I’m delighted to hear that. Thank you! grainne.
Hi Gráinne, just started with Dominic a couple of weeks ago! Love the look of your site – you’re my kind of girl! I’m about to try my first of your recipes – the beetroot cake! Just wondering if I can use rice flour? Would that make a difference?
Hi Helen, Nice to hear from you. I have not tried it with Rice flour as a single blend so I cant guarantee you will get the nice moistness I got from the blended flour I used. Gluten free flours can be very difficult to work with and I would definitely avoid potato flour for this one in case you have it, So Id say try it and if the batter seems very dry add a little more apple juice. Let me know how you got on. thanks!
g
Five stars Grainne! This cake is a keeper – I shall be baking this for years to come. I got the Gluten Free after all. Baked it Easter Morn while roasting a turkey for the ‘big lunch’! I have to say it was a bit of a palaver melting the butter, roasting the nuts etc but 4 veg, gravy & starters too may have been a distraction!!! My Tips – after roasting nuts, chop/grind each type separately to preserve the crunchy factor, – I used a 10″ round cake tin, the cake was 3cm thick when baked & as light as a feather with a beautiful texture. For years I put a cup of pureed broccoli and/or carrot in my kids favourite chocolate cake but beetroot is a new one for me & I’ll be looking for more ways to put it in baked goods as we all loved the taste. Now, which, of all your delicious looking creations shall I try next…hmmm..!!
P.S. A slice of this for breakfast with a bowl of Greek yogurt, blueberries & a teeny bit of honey is pure Ambrosia.
I’m delighted to hear this and what a good idea for any cake left the next day! I know what you mean when you already have a busy cooking agenda – I try and do trays of roasted nuts from time to time when I have the oven on so that i have them on standby as I throw them into salads etc . they dont usually last long enough to worry about them going off. Thanks so much for letting me know!.
g.
hi grainne – ive got all the ingrediants ready to go for this cake, but ive never cooked beetroot before!! ive juiced it and my kitchen ends up looking like a crime scene :).. a stupid question im sure but do i just peel the beetroot and then boil it until its al dente? and let cool and grate? really looking forward to this cake, it sounds delish .. tanx
Hi Tara, you can do that, Or you can buy the already done vac packed version in dunnes or lidl! Hope you enjoy! 🙂 g.