Nigel Slater's chocolate beetroot cake

1. Lightly butter your loose-bottomed cake tin and line the base with a disc of baking parchment. Set the oven at 180ºC or gas mark 4.
2. Cook the beetroot, whole and unpeeled, in boiling unsalted water. Depending on their size, they will be knifepoint tender within 30-40 mins. Young ones may take slightly less. Drain them, let them cool under running water, then peel them, slice off their stem and root, and blitz to a rough purée.
3. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate, snapped into small pieces, in a small bowl resting over a pot of simmering water. Don't stir. When the chocolate looks almost melted, pour the hot coffee over it and stir once.
4. Cut the butter into small pieces, (the smaller the better), and add to the melted chocolate. Dip the butter down under the surface of the chocolate with a spoon (as best you can) and leave to soften.
5. Sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Set aside.
6. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a large mixing bowl. Stir the yolks together. Now, working quickly but gently, remove the bowl of chocolate from the heat and stir until the butter has melted into the chocolate. Leave for a few minutes, then stir in the egg yolks. Do this quickly, mixing firmly and evenly so the eggs blend into the mixture.
7. Fold in the beetroot. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold in the sugar. Firmly but tenderly, fold the beaten egg whites and sugar into the chocolate mixture. A large metal spoon is what you want here. Work in a deep, figure-of-eight movement but take care not to over-mix.
8. Lastly fold in the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Transfer quickly to the prepared cake tin and put in the oven, turning the heat down immediately to 160°C or gas mark 3. Bake for 40 mins. The rim of the cake will feel spongy, the inner part should still wobble a little when gently shaken.
9. Leave to cool (it will sink a tad in the centre) then loosen it around the edges with a palette knife after half an hour or so. Don't remove the cake from its tin until it's completely cold. Serve in thick slices, with crème fraîche and poppy seeds.

This recipe is from Nigel Slater's Tender volume I, £30 from 4th Estate and available from Amazon.co.uk