CARROT BANANA AND BEETROOT CAKE
CAKE:
250 g white sugar
4 large eggs
250 ml (1 cup) sunflower oil
15 ml vanilla essence
100 ml buttermilk
380 g cake flour
10 ml baking powder
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt
15 ml ground cinnamon
10 ml ground ginger
1 large beetroot, peeled and grated
100 g carrot, peeled and grated
1 banana, mashed
100 g walnuts, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
ICING:
15 ml vanilla essence
200 g cream cheese
200 g double-cream plain/Greek yoghurt
100 g honey
zest of 1 lemon
edible flowers, to garnish
For the cake, preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a 21cm springform cake tin with baking paper. Be sure to cut the baking paper long enough to extend 11cm past the rim of the tin. Set aside until needed.
In the bowl of a handheld/stand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs together until creamy. Add the sunflower oil, 1 tbsp vanilla essence and buttermilk. Beat until incorporated. Set aside until needed.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, ground cinnamon and ground ginger. Sift this mixture over the creamed sugar and eggs. Mix until well combined. Add the remaining cake ingredients and mix well. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and set aside to cool in the tin.
For the icing, place the 1 tsp vanilla essence along with the remaining icing ingredients in the bowl of a hand-held/stand mixer and beat until smooth.
To assemble, remove the cake from the tin and place on a cake stand. Spoon the icing over the top. Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth the surface. Arrange the edible flowers around the edge of the icing, as decoration.
Photo: Wayne Dugmore
