Hands up if you’d love to serve this three-tiered beauty on your wedding day? Well, today we’re giving you the keys to actually make this recipe at home yourself! This Beetroot and Rose Truffle Cake is one of the showstopper recipes in Hayley McKee’s new book “Sticky Fingers, Green Thumb” and despite its vibrant pink colour, you won’t find any artificial colours and flavours in this recipe, or anywhere throughout the book. We love the native Australian blooms, unique seasonal ingredients and the rustic style of all of Hayley’s recipes in her book and this week, we’re thrilled to be giving away three copies to our loyal Polka Dot Bride readers in celebration of our cake month on the site!

Hayley says: “This recipe will become your secret weapon chocolate cake. Earthy baby beetroots are roasted until juicy to lend a dense, fudge-like texture to an already deep, dark chocolate base. The real highlight, though, is the addictive beetroot and rose truffles dusted in cocoa, which happen to be a cinch to make. Just try not to scoff them before you decorate your cake.”

Beetroot and Rose Truffle Cake

Serves 8–10

Cake ingredients:

10 baby beetroot
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
340g unsalted butter
370g soft brown sugar
340g caster (superfine) sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
a few drops of rosewater, to taste
600g  plain (all-purpose) flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
160g Dutch (unsweetened) cocoa powder
4 teaspoons salt
625g sour cream

Beetroot and rose truffle ingredients:

3 beetroot
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
400g good-quality dark chocolate, broken into chunks
400ml thick (double/heavy) cream
40g edible dried rose petals, plus extra to decorate
a few drops of rosewater
100g  Dutch (unsweetened) cocoa powder

Beetroot icing ingredients:

3 tablespoons finely grated roast beetroot (see method)
225g  unsalted butter, softened
225g cream cheese, softened
500–625g icing (confectioners’) sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
50ml  milk

Note: This recipe makes one tier with two layers. To pump up the tiers and recreate the cake tower pictured, as a guide you’ll need to quadruple the ingredients; as well as a 20cm (8 in) cake tin, you’ll need one 23cm (9 in) and one 25cm (10 in) cake tin.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 175°C (345°F). Lightly grease and line two 20cm round cake tins with baking paper.

Toss the whole beetroot in the oil. Wrap each one separately in aluminium foil. Roast 1 hour or until soft, then remove from the oven and cool. Once cool, peel off the skin and finely grate. Set aside.

To make the truffles, cook the beetroot as per the method above, then add to a blender or food processor and blitz to a fine purée. Transfer to a saucepan set over a low heat for 2–3 minutes (this will dry up any excess moisture and help bring out the flavour, so don’t skip this step).
Remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the chocolate pieces in a heatproof dish. Bring the cream to the boil in a heavy-based saucepan, reduce the heat to a simmer, add half the dried rose petals and cook gently for 15 minutes, or until the flavour of the rose petals has fully infused into the cream. Strain the cream over the chocolate pieces and stir slowly until melted and glossy, then add 110g of the beetroot purée and the rosewater and mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour until firm. Once set, take teaspoons of the mixture and shape them into bite-sized balls, then roll them in the cocoa powder and the remaining dried rose petals to coat. Transfer to the refrigerator and leave to chill until needed.

Cream the butter and sugars together in a bowl using a hand-held mixer, or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and rosewater and mix in half the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Stir in the sour cream, then mix in the remainder of the dry ingredients before gently folding in 300g of the grated roast beetroot until well combined (save the rest for the icing).

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared tins and bake for 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly in the tins for 5 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat all the ingredients together in a bowl using a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer until well combined.

Place one of the cooled cakes on a serving plate or stand and spread with half the icing. Place the second cake on top and spread with the remaining icing. To decorate, top with the truffles and scatter over a few more dried rose petals or team the truffles up with fresh garden roses.


Sticky Fingers, Green Thumb is available now from Hardie Grant.