GLUTEN FREE RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
200g Dark Chocolate
I used 100g of 70% and 100g of Bournville
Check your chocolate is Gluten Free, Bourneville is GF but others may not be.
250g Raw Beetroot, grated.
4 Large Free Range Eggs, separated.
150g Golden Caster Sugar.
120g Ground Almonds.
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder (Use Gluten Free variety)
1 Tablespoon 100% Cocoa Powder.
20cm Spring Form Cake Tin
Butter to grease the tin
Cocoa Powder for dusting the tin
(instead of plain flour which of course is NOT gluten free!)
Pre heat oven to Gas mark 4
Takes 50 to 60 minutes to bake, until a skewer is stuck into the centre and comes out clean.
1) First melt the chocolate in a Bain marie.
2) Grate the raw beetroot on the chunkier side of your grater, or you can use a food processor. Put into a mixing bowl.
3) Separate the eggs, you can put the yolks straight in with the grated beetroot and the whites in a second bowl. We will be beating them separately.
4) Mix the egg yolks in with the beetroot.
5) Add the golden caster sugar, the ground almonds to the beetroot and mix well.
6) Then add the baking powder and cocoa powder and melted chocolate into the beetroot and mix really well.
7) In the second bowl, whisk the the egg whites with an electric mixer until you have stiff peaks.
8) Use a metal spoon to fold a quarter of the egg whites into the beetroot mixture to loosen, then once combined, fold in the rest but try not to over mix.
9) Add the mixture to the prepared cake tin and gently spread out using a spatula.
10) Bake in the hot oven for around 50 minutes.
11) Leave the cake to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then carefully take out of the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
As you can see, I stabbed the cake 5 times with a skewer as I couldn't tell if it was cooked. I would usually check by pressing the top but a strong crust had formed so that didn't work.
My oven is dodgy and the temperature fluctuates but this took 60 minutes in total. I put a square of foil over the top for 10 minutes as I was worried it would catch.
When I removed the cake from the tin I broke it, as a flourless sponge the cake is very fragile and I handled it too much.
I also do not recommend using a flexible cake "tin". Definitely use a spring form tin.
I will make this again, probably as cupcakes or even as a tray bake then sliced into bars.
GLUTEN FREE RECIPE
100g Full Fat Cream Cheese
200g Icing Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
In a big bowl, whip the cream cheese, add the vanilla and then sieve in the icing sugar.
I find some types of cream cheese (supermarket own brands and Phillidelphia) more wet than others, if you find this then just add more icing sugar to thicken the mix.
PLEASE NOTE | GLUTEN FREE
I checked the ingredients (01/04/2014) but your own ingredients may differ.
Please check the brands of products you're using for gluten. Some cheaper products or lower fat alternatives may add ingredients containing gluten to thicken or prolong shelf life.
