This recipe was inspired by a recipe by Nigel Slater which I started making after growing beetroots for the first time (and rather successfully I might add). We had so many beetroots to use up I had to try to find new recipes to use them in. I thought this recipe was so delicious and was an easy way to use the rapidly growing beetroots.
I decided to make my own version of this cake seeing as there is so much added free sugars in the original recipe. While sugar is sugar at the end of the day, swapping dates in the place of sugar doesn’t make this cake much healthier than the original, but it is a nice twist which adds a little extra fibre diversity into the mix.
It’s also worth point out that while this recipe was going through the developmental stages I learnt that you cannot blend the dates directly with the oil as you would with water. It makes the most sticky mess and I almost gave up! So trust me on this one, blend with the water first and the mix in the oil at the end. That way there won’t be any frustrated cake tears.
Serves 10
Ingredients
- Butter or oil, for greasing
- 125g dates
- 2 eggs, separated
- Zest and juice of half a lemon
- 180g self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 120ml extra virgin olive oil
- 170g/5oz raw beetroot, peeled and grated
- 75g/3oz sultanas or raisins
- 75g/3oz mixed seeds (such as sunflower, pumpkin and linseed)
- 10g coconut flakes
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C convection.
- Line a 1lb bread tin with baking parchment and grease the sides lightly.
- In a jug, blend the dates and 50ml boiling water to a thick paste consistency. Add the egg yolks and lemon juice and mix before adding the oil and grated beetroot.
- In a separate bowl, sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon together. Add the lemon zest, sultanas and seeds, mixing to evenly disperse them.
- In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites to a soft peak consistency.
- Mix the beetroot mixture with the dry ingredients, mixing to a batter before gently folding the egg whites in.
- Pour into the lined tin, top with coconut flakes and bake for 40-45 minutes, covering with foil after 20 minutes. The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Per slice: 291kcal/ 16.6g fat/ 2.9g saturated fat/ 28.9g carbohydrates/ 2.8g fibre/ 5.8g protein