Ripe Deli's beetroot and red wine red velvet cake

Sally Greer and Beatnik Publishing

Amy Melchior, a former chef at Ripe Deli, created this natural version of a red velvet cake using beetroot for colour instead of processed food dyes. What's gained in goodness is balanced out with the deli's favourite white chocolate icing.

Cake

2	Beetroot, approximately 400g, raw, peeled, finely grated (Main)
2 Tbsp	Lemon juice
1 Tbsp	Cider vinegar
2 cups	Flour
2 tsp	Baking powder
1 tsp	Baking soda
½ cup	Cocoa powder
2 tsp	Ground cinnamon
1 tsp	Mixed spice
1 pinch	Salt
1 cup	Soft brown sugar
1 cup	Caster sugar
4	Eggs
1 cup	Vegetable oil, use light vegetable oil
2 tsp	Vanilla extract
½ cup	Red wine

White chocolate and cream cheese icing

200 g	White chocolate, grated
50 g	Unsalted butter, cold, cubed
4 Tbsp	Cream
250 g	Cream cheese, softened
1 cup	Icing sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line two 23cm cake tins.
2. In a food processor bowl, place the grated beetroot, lemon juice and vinegar. Blend until the beetroot is a very fine puree. This will take approximately five minutes of blending. Transfer the pureed beetroot into a small bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, place the brown sugar, caster sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla. Whisk together until thick and glossy.
5. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the wine, add the egg mixture and the beetroot puree. Mix together until just combined. Do not over mix the batter.
6. Divide the cake batter evenly between the two tins. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and leave in the tins to cool a little before turning them out on to a wire rack.
8. To prepare the icing, place a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Melt the white chocolate, butter and cream together. Whisk with fork until well combined.
9. Place the cream cheese in a cake mixer bowl and beat until soft and fluffy. Slowly pour in the white chocolate mixture. Beat until light and creamy, scraping down the inside of the bowl so that the cream cheese is well combined and there are no lumps.
10. Add the icing sugar and beat for another minute or two. Transfer the icing into a bowl. Cover with cling film and place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up.
11. When the cakes have cooled, spread half the icing onto one of cakes. Place the second cake on top. Spread over the remaining icing and garnish with curls, shards or shavings of white chocolate.
12. Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes to set the icing. Allow the cake to come back to room temperature before serving. Transfer onto a cake plate and serve.