Dark Chocolate & Beetroot Cake

The first time I ever saw a Thermomix was whilst watching MasterChef Australia. I can’t remember what season it was, but it must’ve been around 2011 or 2012. Fast forward to 2016 and I’m standing in front of one sitting on the kitchen counter of the SideChef office in Shanghai.

Totally overwhelmed and intimidated by what I immediately called ‘The Spaceship’, I had absolutely no idea what to do next. Considering I needed to develop various recipes with it, you can imagine how freaked out I was.

After only a couple of weeks using it I was totally hooked, and the first time I really felt like I possibly wouldn’t be able to function “normally” without one in the kitchen again was when it turned florets of cauliflower into caulirice in under 10 seconds. Mind blown.

It was a genuinely sad day once I’d completed the project with Thermomix China and SideChef, because this meant that I would need to return what had now become my very close kitchen companion. This appliance, which I was once absolutely terrified to use, had made a very real impact on the way I cooked.

Fast forward another year and I’m living in England and walking through the Bentall Centre in Kingston, when I see some very familiar branding and an email address on the window of the Vorwerk store that’s opening soon. So I sent them an email, mentioned I’d worked with Thermomix before and how much I loved it, asked how I could get involved with the brand here and I got a reply! A few weeks later I was sitting in Advisor Training and here I am once again working with Thermomix.

Apart from cooking up an absolute storm following the existing Guided Cooking recipes through my Cookidoo® subscription, and being able to download hundreds of recipes via wifi to my Thermomix using my Cook-Key®, I’ve also had a lot of fun adapting recipes for it, which is exactly what I was doing during the project I worked on in Shanghai.

This Dark Chocolate & Beetroot Cake is absolutely exquisite! I made everything using the Thermomix, including the cooked beetroot and the chocolate fudge icing I smothered them with. Besides being a serious hit with adults, even the fussiest of kids will absolutely love them. Be warned though, they are very rich and very addictive!

Thermomix Dark Chocolate & Beetroot Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 350g fresh beetroot, peeled, trimmed and chopped into pieces
• 150g unsalted butter + extra for greasing the baking tin
• 300g dark chocolate (I prefer to use Lindt excellence 90% cocoa dark chocolate)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 220g light muscovado sugar
• 3 free-range eggs
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 50g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp salt

Thermomix Chocolate Fudge Icing

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 20g condensed milk
• 50g sifted icing sugar

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees c, grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm square brownie tin.
2. Gently tap the bars of chocolate on a counter to break them up. Fill the mixing bowl with water up until the halfway mark and place the Varoma tray in position.
3. Place the prepped beetroot on the Varoma tray, cover with the lid and steam for 45 mins. / Varoma / Speed 2, until tender.
4. Discard the water in the mixing bowl, give it a quick rinse and add the cooked beetroot. Add the chocolate pieces and the butter into the mixing bowl and mix for 8 mins / 60°C / Speed 2, until the chocolate and butter have melted completely.
5. Add the vanilla extract and blitz for 1.5 mins. / Speed 5 until totally smooth. Scrape out into a bowl and set aside. Rinse the mixing bowl.
6. Place the eggs and sugar in the mixing bowl, insert the Butterfly Whisk and whisk for 2 mins / Speed 3.5 until light and fluffy.
7. Remove the Butterfly Whisk, add the beetroot and chocolate mixture and mix for 20 sec. / Reverse Speed 5 until completely combined.
8. Sift the cocoa powder, self-raising flour and salt together and add to the mixing bowl. Mix for 20 sec. / Reverse Speed 3.
9. Pour the batter into the baking tin and bake for 35 – 40 mins. Allow to cool completely (preferably overnight) before frosting.
10. To make the icing, add all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and heat for about 10 mins / 60°C / Speed 3, until thickened and smooth.
11. Working quickly, pour the frosting over the cake and smooth over with an offset palette knife.
12. Cut into squares and enjoy!