This will definitely put you in the pink
We usually think of beetroot as a savoury food. But Shima Shimizu, raw food chef and founder of Sesame Kitchen, dispels this notion by using beetroot as a key ingredient in a cake.
Shimizu's brownie-like cake needs no baking. Raw beetroot is blitzed in a food processor with walnuts, dates, cocoa powder and spices, then refrigerated. The vegetable imparts depth to the chocolate and spices, and a vivid pink colour to the topping. Eating the ingredients raw preserves their goodness, while coconut sugar, rather than refined white sugar, lowers the glycaemic index.
Raw chocolate and beetroot cake
For the cake
290 grams walnuts, soaked and dehydrated
300 grams dates, pitted
70 grams raw cocoa powder
Half a beetroot, shredded
1 tsp cinnamon
?tsp nutmeg
Pinch of salt
Place ingredients in a food processor fitted with an S-blade and process until the mixture binds. Over-processing will result in oil leaking from the nuts.
Pat the mixture into a seven-inch (18cm) round, spring-form cake pan. Press down evenly for about three minutes to shape the cake, packing it well to avoid crumbling later. Place cake in freezer or refrigerator to harden.
For the cashew icing
150 grams cashews
100 grams coconut sugar (available in Thai and Indian supply stores)
80ml coconut oil
Half a beetroot
About 150ml water
30ml lemon juice
Place chopped beetroot in a blender and blend slowly with the water in small quantities until it forms a smoothie-like consistency. (You may not need all the water.) Squeeze the juice through a nut milk bag or cheese cloth to remove pulp. Set aside and clean the blender.
Place cashews, coconut sugar, coconut oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt into the blender. Add enough beetroot juice until the liquids cover the dry ingredients. Blend until creamy, adding more beetroot juice if needed.
Remove cake from pan. If it crumbles, pack it back into the pan, press gently and turn it out again. Pour the icing on top of the cake. Set in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
For the decoration
20 grams raw cocoa powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
10 grams coconut sugar
Mix raw cocoa powder, coconut oil and coconut sugar by hand. Drop the chocolate mixture in dots on top of the icing and swirl with a toothpick.
The cake can be refrigerated for up to five days.
