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beetroot stem ginger and citrus cake

Beetroot stem ginger and citrus cake

soft and tender beetroot cake with stem ginger, citrus and ground hazelnuts. A great alternative to a carrot cake for valentines day, or any time of year
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Servings: 8
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: european
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

For sponge
  • 150 grams grated beetroot (use raw beetroots)
  • zest of one small lemon
  • zest of one clementine
  • juice of half a small lemon
  • juice from one clementine
  • thumb sized piece of ginger grated
  • 250 ml vegetable oil (1 cup)
  • 200 grams caster sugar
  • 85 grams soft light brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 275 grams plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 60 grams roasted hazelnuts, finely ground
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Mascarpone frosting
  • 250 grams mascarpone cream cheese
  • 250 ml double cream
  • 5 tbsp powdered sugar Add more if you like it sweeter
  • 4 tbsp syrup from making beetroot roses (see post) Add more for a darker shade for pink

Equipment

  • grater
  • whisk
  • 3 shallow 7 or 8 inch layer cake tins
  • baking paper

Method
 

For the sponge
  1. Preheat the oven to 160c fan
  2. grease and line three shallow 7 or 8 inch baking tins
  3. Peel and finely grate the beetroot, i do this is a food processor with the fine grater attachment, (to save my hands from turning pink) if you don't have a food processor you might want to wear gloves, i hold the beetroot with a cloth while i peel them also.
  4. Weigh out 150g of the grated beetroot in a bowl, there was about 1 tbsp of the juice from grating them in the food processor, unlike other veg cakes, where i strain any liquid away i kept the juice for this one.
    Grate the lemon and clementine zest into the bowl with the beetroot and add the juice (juice from half the lemon and juice from the whole clementine) , then peel the skin off the stem ginger and grate into the same bowl. Mix together and let sit.
  5. Whisk the oil and sugar together for a few minutes until pale and creamy, then add the eggs one at a time while whisking at high speed until the mixture is thick and pale.
  6. In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, dried spices and a pinch of salt, add the ground roasted hazelnuts then add into the bowl with the oil/eggs and fold in with a spatula.
  7. Finally fold in the beetroot mixture.
  8. Pour the batter evenly between the three tins then bake on the middle shelf for 20 to 22 minutes. (After 10 minutes i moved the tins around to make sure they baked evenly) to check the cakes are baked, insert a knife into the centre and it should come out clean.
  9. Once baked leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then carefully peel the paper off and place them on a cooling rack until completely cool. (if not assembling right away then wrap in plastic wrap until needed to keep fresh)
For the frosting
  1. Add the cream, mascarpone and powdered sugar and whisk until soft peaks, then add the syrup, mix and taste. If you want more sugar or colour add it now then mix again. ( i like my frosting not too sweet so i don't add a lot of sugar, you might want to add more)
  2. Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate or cake stand and add some of the frosting, then spread out and add the next sponge layer, then add some more frosting and top with the final layer. Add the remaining frosting on top and spread to cover the top and sides. Scrape off any excess to look like a naked cake.