Beetroot, two ways

The vegebox has been a hit. We have eaten so well for the past few days, thanks to great and varied ingredients that are really challenging me in the gastronomic arena. Friday night was mushroom and Lancashire cheese crumble, Saturday was pan-roasted cod with wilted spring greens and carrot/potato puree (outstanding), and today was all beetroot all the time. I roasted four of the beetroot for more than an hour last night, bathed in orange juice, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and water. After leaving them to cool overnight, I peeled them this morning -- a somewhat messy operation that left me looking like an extra in a Uwe Boll movie. I pureed 2 of them and added them to a chocolate cake mix; PJ ate one for lunch; and I sliced the other and used it in a beet-feta tart for dinner -- accompanied by a watercress/sprout/orange salad, thanks to a timely recipe from Nigel Slater in today's Observer Food Monthly (also, I gathered today, a fan of the Riverford delivery scheme).


Now, I'm not a fan of unadulterated beetroot, but it was a nice addition to the tart and utterly fantastic in the chocolate cake -- especially when liberally daubed with whipped cream. And I mean real whipped cream. Cream that whips straight out of the jar and remains whipped when left for 30 minutes. Dutch slagroom needed to be chilled for ages, along with the bowl and beaters, and it was always rather thin, lacking the comforting fattiness of proper cream. Look at it below, thickly cascading down the side of the rich, dark cake ... Sorry! Didn't mean to go off on one about all things dairy, but boy have I missed double cream for the past six years! Anyway, the cake was lovely, slightly earthy note to it, well worth trying -- particularly if you're trying to sneak extra veg past demanding children (and adults).



Tomorrow night will be mushroom-stuffed peppers with spring greens and the remainder of the carrot/potato puree, with possibly watercress soup for lunch. I can't wait for next week's box!

Chocolate Beet Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, Canola or corn oil
1 1/2 cups grated cooked beetroot (about 2 medium-size beets) (I pureed them as grating was very gory)
2 teaspoons vanilla
powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and cocoa in a bowl; set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs and oil. Beat in vanilla and continue beating until well blended. Slowly beat in dry ingredients until well mixed; stir in beets.

Pour into a greased and floured 9x13-inch baking pan (I used a round 10" pan). Bake at 350° for 25 to 35 minutes, or until cake bounces back when touched lightly with finger.

Cool in pan on a rack. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with lashings of softly whipped double cream.