then the remaining dry ingredients, making sure you scrape down the bowl with each addition and be careful not to over-beat. This is your chocolate batter. 6 To make the zebra stripes, spoon about 3 tablespoons of the vanilla batter into the centre of each of your prepared cake tins. Then add 3 tablespoons of the chocolate batter into the centre of that. The vanilla batter will spread out. Continue alternating the batters, adding to the centre each time. Once you are done, don’t be tempted to level the top or merge the layers in any way!
7 Bake for approximately 25–30 minutes, or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean | or just with a few crumbs, and no liquid |. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8 Spread buttercream on both layers, sandwich together, and spread more buttercream around the sides.
BEETROOT CAKE
I first made this cake for someone who had food intolerances that meant they could hardly ever eat cake. It’s virtually savoury and contains no butter or flour, but still has a beautiful colour, texture and flavour. The original version had no added sugar, but I’ve adapted it slightly with honey and brown sugar to complement the natural sweetness of the beetroot. This cake is delicious with the mascarpone frosting on its own, or you could add some icing sugar to it if you like. Warning: this is a cake for grown-ups.
PREP TIME 40 minutes COOKING TIME 30 minutes SERVES: 8–10 500g raw beetroots, peeled and grated very fine 120ml olive oil 60ml freshly squeezed smooth orange juice 80g root ginger, peeled and finely grated 150g raisins 6 tbsp runny honey 1½ tsp vanilla extract Finely grated zest of 2 lemons ½ tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 2 tsp baking powder 360g polenta | instant coarse polenta will do | 4 eggs, separated 50g light brown sugar Fresh fruit, such as berries or sliced peaches, to decorate Handful of chives, chopped FOR THE FROSTING 400g mascarpone A dash of beetroot juice to colour | optional | 100g icing sugar, sifted | optional | Two 18cm cake tins, greased and lined
1 Preheat the oven to 180˚C fan assisted/gas mark 6.
2 Combine the beetroot, oil, juice, ginger, raisins, honey, vanilla, lemon zest and spices in a bowl. Put the baking powder and polenta in a separate bowl and stir to combine.
3 Beat the egg yolks with the brown sugar until creamy and increased in volume – approximately 4 minutes. Stir into the beetroot mix.
4 In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form | see page 35 for how |. Stir the polenta evenly into the beetroot mix, then fold in the egg whites | see page 35 |.
5 Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake tins and level out to the edges. Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
6 Beat the beetroot juice and icing sugar into the mascarpone, if using. Spread the cake rounds with the frosting, then add the fruit, sandwich together and sprinkle with the chopped chives.
TIP: If possible, use a food processor with a fine grating attachment to grate the beetroot – you can do it by hand, but it’s hard work, and be prepared for stained hands.
FLOURLESS OREO CAKE
This cake came about when a customer called to order a gluten-free Oreo cake. A slight language barrier coupled with a crackly line meant I couldn’t explain that Oreos themselves contained gluten. In the end I gave up and conceded, went to the kitchen and made this cake – the cocoa powder combined with the dark colour and crunch of the poppy seeds make for a convincing Oreo texture and flavour, especially when married with a dollop of vanilla buttercream. This recipe works well for a dozen fairy cakes too.
PREP TIME 25 minutes COOKING TIME 30 minutes SERVES: 8 130g unsalted butter, room temperature 140g light brown sugar 4 eggs, separated 150g black/blue poppy seeds 130g ground almonds 40g cocoa powder, sifted Pinch of salt 1 tsp baking powder 300g batch Vanilla Buttercream | see page 254 | 20g dark chocolate, roughly chopped | optional | One 23cm round cake tin, greasedand lined
1 Preheat the oven to 180˚C fan assisted/gas mark 6.
2 Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy – approximately 4 minutes. Add the egg yolks gradually and mix until combined.
3 Mix together the poppy seeds, ground almonds, cocoa, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl.
4 Beat the egg whites in a very clean bowl, first on slow, then on medium and finally on high, until they form stiff peaks | see page 35 |.
5 By hand, stir half the poppy seed mix into the batter, then fold in half the beaten egg whites, the rest of the poppy seed mix and finally the remaining egg whites. Use the folding technique to incorporate everything | see page 35 |, adding very gently with a metal spoon or spatula and taking care not to knock too much air out of the egg whites. Don’t worry if there are still white streaks or lumps – just try to fold in so that everything is roughly evenly distributed.
6 Transfer the mixture to your prepared tin and level out to the edges. Bake for 25–30 minutes, until risen and firm. Press the top of the cake gently with your fingertips to see if it feels baked through. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7 When cool, spread the buttercream on top and dust with roughly chopped dark chocolate, if desired.
SUMMER CARROT CAKE
Feel free to change the spices and fruit as the seasons change. Summer is citrussy, with passionfruit and light cream cheese frosting.
PREP TIME 30 minutes COOKING TIME 20 minutes SERVES: 8 175ml runny honey 75ml water 120ml thick mango or citrus smoothie 125g unsalted butter 250g peeled and trimmed organic carrots, grated 90g raisins or stoned and chopped dates, or a mix of both Flesh of 2 passionfruit Juice and finely grated zest of 1 orange Pinch of cinnamon 225g wholegrain spelt flour, sifted 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 100g nuts | walnuts and pecans are good | toasted | see page 257 |, then broken into pieces ½ batch of Cream Cheese Frosting | see page 255 | 50g flaked almonds, toasted, for topping Flesh of 2 passionfruit Sprinkling of desiccated coconut Two 18cm round cake tins, greased and lined
1 Preheat the oven to 180˚C fan assisted/gas mark 6.
2 Heat the honey, water, smoothie or brandy, butter, carrot mix, dried and fresh fruit, citrus zest and juice, and spices together in a pan, stirring gently to melt the butter. Bring to the boil, then boil for 6 minutes. Take the mixture off the heat, remove the cloves if using, and allow to cool completely to room temperature – transfer to another bowl to speed up this process.
3 Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together the flour and bicarbonate of soda
