Chocolate beet fudge cake

PREP TIME: 20 minutes BAKING TIME: 40-45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

250g cooked beetroot - 80p 225g plain flour - 9p 300g golden caster sugar - 57p 3 medium free-range eggs - 42p 1 tsp vanilla extract - 32p 250ml vegetable oil + extra for greasing - 30p 50g cocoa powder - 40p 1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda - 2p 50g dark chocolate - 25p A pinch of salt - 1p

TOTAL COST - £3.16 COST PER SERVING - 26P

SERVES 12

METHOD

TRY ME!

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a 8 x 3-inch deep cake tin 2. Whizz up the cooked beetroot in a food processor until it’s pureed. 3. Once it’s nice and smooth, tip the contents into a large mixing bowl with the eggs, oil, vanilla extract and sugar and whisk until everything is well combined. 4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt before sieving into the beetroot mixture. 5. Mix everything together,. Make sure that the ingredients are well combined. 6. Pour the mixture into your cake tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for around 40-45 minutes. When the cake is ready, a skewer or cocktail stick will come out more or less clean. If it’s sticky, it’ll need slightly longer. 7. Leave the cake to cool off before moving it onto a wire rack. 8. Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Drizzle it over the cake to make any sort of pattern you fancy.

A SWEET BEET TREAT CHOCOLATE BEET FUDGE CAKE Beetroot with chocolate?! It might sound like a strange combination but trust us, it’s a match made in heaven. We promise you can’t taste a hint of beetroot in the cake, it simply creates an incredibly moist texture that complements the rich chocolate flavour. Give it a go, it’s guaranteed to win even your most avid beetroot-hating friends. *

FREEZE IT

Did you know that 75,000 tonnes of cake are thrown away in the UK every year? To freeze it, make sure the cake is cool then wrap it tightly in tin foil and store it in the freezer for up to three months.

HOW TO STORE IT

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Storing it in the fridge will only make it go stale quicker.

10 MIX IT UP

Use milk or white chocolate instead of dark for the chocolate drizzle. If you want to push the boat out, whip up some buttercream icing.

DYE ANOTHER DAY WASTE NOT *

So you’ve had your cake and eaten it. But before throwing the scraps of the beetroot into the food bin, stop and think. Can I be more sustainable with my leftovers and unused fruit and veg?

For this issue’s waste not section, we’re guiding you on how to use your beets and carrots in more exciting ways. Seeing as it’s the month of the root vegetable, what better way than to dig up the past and find natural sustainable forms of dyeing clothing?

Our March issue star and its carrot companion can create vivid and bright natural dyes, so why not try it out? You’ll also be helping decrease the hundreds of containers full of disregarded clothing that just end up in landfill. In the UK alone, it is estimated that around £140 million worth of clothing goes to landfill every year.

As of 2018, textile dyeing across the world is regarded as the second largest pollutant of clean water following agriculture. Polluting our airways with toxic chemicals for the sake of vibrancy in our clothing is unnecessary, especially when you can find the exact same colour in the food you consume.

So do our planet a favour and try out a new form of revitalising your old, worn clothing.

What you’ll need

Vinegar Salt Water Gloves/tongs Wash buckets / old pots Glass jars Funnel Measuring cup Large mixing bowl Strainer Knife Small saucepans

Be preppy

Make sure your vegetables aren’t dry. If they are then the colour extracting process won’t work. Cover all surfaces with newspaper or tabletop covers. If these ingredients are strong enough to dye your clothes, they’re strong enough to stain your counters too. Natural fabrics like cotton, wool and silk produce the best outcomes. Use light coloured clothing for best results.

Fix up a fixative

• Prepare a ‘fixative’, which is a mixture to help the dyeing process. • Simmer 1 cup vinegar and 4 cups water with clothing. • Allow to simmer for 1 hour before rinsing with cool water. • Boil the clothing that you want to dye in the fixative for 1 hour.

Method

• Once this is done, add one vegetable to the saucepan alongside double the amount of water. • Allow the mixture to simmer for 1 hour. • After an hour, turn off the heat, allowing the mixture to return to room temperature. • Strain the room temperature ingredients into a mixing bowl. • Then use a funnel to transfer the remains into a glass jar or wash bucket. • Soak the fabric in the natural dye until it reaches your desired shade. • Remove the clothing and rinse lightly in cool water. • Put the clothing out to air dry - the longer you leave it, the better. • If you wish to further set the colour in the fabric, run through the dryer alone for one hour (but remember, we’re trying to help the planet).

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Dyeing for attention: this beetroot dye will insure you stand out from the crowd