Sunday Bake - Cocoa Beetroot Cup Cakes with Coconut Icing

This recipe combines two of my best things, cake + veg. Its vegan, gluten free and topped with the best  coconut creme frosting.

For the cake:

175g Doves Farm gluten free self raising flour
1tsp xanthem gum
1tsp Agron no egg
2tsp cocoa or cacao powder
1 medium sized fresh betroot peeled and grated (approx 50g)
100g golden caster sugar
100g dairy free butter spread, eg Pure
100ml almond milk

Icing:
1 tin coconut milk (full fat)
3tblsp icing sugar

electric balloon whisk

Pre heat your oven at 175oC. Place sugar and spread in a mixing bowl and whizz till fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa,  gum and no egg and sift in to the bowl together little at a time adding a splash of almond milk as the mixture thickens. Stir in the beetroot and watch your batter go a lovely pink colour!

Spoon mixture into a greases and lined muffin tin and bake for 20 mins. Whilst the cakes are baking whisk together your coconut milk and icing sugar, cover and place in the fridge until your cakes are baked and cooled. Spoon a generous amount of coconut cream onto each cake before devouring!

Sunday Bake - Fresh Beetroot and Cocoa Cake (Vegan)

For the first of hopefully many vegan recipe posts i'd like to share with you this juicy cake I baked after picking up a hug carrier bag of fresh beets (for £1!) at the veg stall Sunday just gone.

I have always been a fan of free-styling a baking recipe. Actually the same could be said for cooking in general. It usually starts with me finding a lovely recipe online but not having all the right ingredients...

Having become vegan about 6 months ago now I am also still getting to grips with replacing eggs or dairy in my baking and have struggled up until I found a blog that recommended using ripe bananas instead- genius! Unless you hate bananas.

You will need:

1 medium fresh beetroot peeled & grated
100g brown caster sugar
2/3 ripe bananas
150g vegan margarine style spread
250g self raising flour
3tsp (heaped) cocoa or cacao powder

For the 'cream cheese icing'

1 tub Tofutti original
5/6 tblsp icing sugar

Preheat your oven at 170oC. Put marg' bananas and sugar into a big bowl and mix together with a stick blender until fully combined. The mixture may look a little curdley but that just seems to be the way it goes so don't worry. Next sieve together the flour and cocoa a little at a time mixing in well at intervals. Lastly fold in grated beetroot! spoon out half and half into two medium round sandwich tins and bake for 20/30 mins or until no traces are left on a knife when stabbing the sponge.

Whilst these are cooking make the filling/icing...

Place the whole tub of Tofutti into a small ish bowl with the icing sugar and mix well! Cover and keep at room temperature until the cake is cooled and ready to be finished.

Once your cakes are cooled spread the filling mixture generously onto one half of the cake and place the other on top.

A perfect afternoon cake! Or if you are like me also good for a late breakfast...