Beetroot and Orange Cakes with White chocolate Icing and a Jam Surprise
Orange flavoured sponge cakes with a note of cardamom, dyed pink with beetroot juice and a surprise blob of plum jam in the middle. Topped with a creamy white chocolate and shocking pink beetroot icing.
Prep Time40 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Course: Afternoon Tea, Snack
Cuisine: British
Keyword: beetroot, cakes, cupcakes, orange, plum jam, white chocolate
Cream the first lot of butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the orange zest.
200 g golden caster sugar, 120 g unsalted butter, 2 tsp orange zest
Beat in the eggs one by one, adding a little of the flour in between each one to prevent curdling.
3 large eggs
Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and stir adding the vinegar and beetroot water as you go along.
260 g flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), 50 ml beetroot water, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Spoon half the batter into 15 cupcake cases, make a slight dent in the middle and add a tsp of jam to each. Top with the remaining batter.
15 tsp pink jam
Bake at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for 20 minutes until the cakes are well risen and golden on top. Turn out onto a rack to cool.
Beetroot Icing
Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water and allow to cool a little.
100 g white chocolate
Cream the icing sugar and 2nd lot of butter, then beat in the white chocolate.
150 g icing sugar, 110 g unsalted butter
Beat in the 2 tbsp beetroot water one by one until a smooth icing consistency is reached. If the mixture curdles and won’t come together, add a little more beetroot juice and continue to beat.
2 tbsp beetroot water
Spread the icing over the cooled cakes and leave for an hour or so to set.
Notes
The beetroot is more for colour than flavour.This is a great way of using up cooking water that you might otherwise throw away.If you boil your beetroot in only a little water, you'll get a good strong colour.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.