Healthy red velvet cake? Miracles do exist.
Nicole Maree’s Red Velvet Cake creation uses beetroot (beet) powder and raspberry purée, which add a rich natural food colouring
Ingredients
For the cake:
• 180ml plant-based milk
• 30ml apple cider vinegar
• 400g gluten-free plain flour
• 280g rapadura sugar
• 1 tablespoon cacao powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon ground sea salt
• 100g coconut oil, melted
• 240g frozen raspberries, warmed and mashed to a pureé
• 110g unsweetened applesauce
• 40ml lemon juice
• 40g beetroot powder (see notes)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 100g fresh strawberries, to garnish
For the icing:
• 130g vegan white chocolate, melted
• 50g coconut butter, melted
• 200ml coconut cream
• 200g dessicated coconut
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method
1 Line the base and sides of two 20 cm wide × 7 cm deep round springform cake tins with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced).
2 Mix the milk and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes.
3 In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, cacao powder, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt.
4 To the milk mixture add the melted coconut oil, raspberry purée, apple-sauce, lemon juice, beetroot powder and vanilla. Mix well. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix to combine.
5 Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared cake tins. Bake for 25–35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.
6 Let the cakes cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7 For the icing, mix all the ingredients in a highspeed blender or food processor until the icing is smooth and thick.
8 Sandwich the two cakes together using a third of the icing between the layers. Smooth the remaining icing over the entire cake and garnish with fresh strawberries.
9 Slice and serve!
Recipe courtesy of Nicole Maree, extracted from The Healthy Convert © Hardie Grant Books
