Essentials South Africa – August 2019

For the cake
150g raw beetroot, grated
100g hazelnuts, roasted
and chopped
200ml sunflower oil
275g castor sugar
3 eggs, separated
3 tbsp milk
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp each ground ginger,
cinnamon and nutmeg
For the frosting
175g unsalted butter, softened
150g icing sugar, sieved
450g cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp freeze-dried raspberry pieces

1

Heat oven to 190°C. Put 1 tbsp of the

grated beetroot in a small bowl, cover

it with 2 tbsp boiling water and set aside

(this is to colour the frosting).

2

Blitz the hazelnuts in a food processor

for 10 sec to finely grind. Whisk the oil

and sugar in a large bowl, then whisk in the

egg yolks and milk. Fold in the remaining

beetroot and the nuts. Sift the flour and

baking powder together and fold this into

the mixture with the spices.

3

Whisk the egg whites in another bowl

until they’re stiff, then gradually fold

them into the cake mixture.

4

Divide this between 2 x 20cm round

cake tins, greased and lined with

baking paper. Smooth the surface and

bake for 30-35 min, or until shrinking

from the tin sides and a skewer inserted

into the centre comes out clean. Run a

knife around the edge of the cakes and

leave them to cool.

5

To make the frosting, cream the butter

and icing sugar together with a hand-

held mixer. Stir in the cream cheese, until

smooth, and work in the vanilla extract

and a couple of tsp of beetroot water, to

tint it pink.

6

Put one cake on a serving plate. Spread

about a quarter of the frosting over the

top of the cake, then use some to sandwich

it together with the other cake. Use the

remaining frosting to coat the top and the

sides, spreading over evenly with a palette

knife. Finally sprinkle over the freeze-dried

raspberries and chill for 1 hr before serving.

PINK SPECKLED LAYER CAKE
SerVeS 12 r eAdY iN 1 Hr + CHiLLiNG