light chocolate cake.

my boyfriend's mum very kindly posted me harry eastwood's book 'red velvet chocolate heartache' this week. the book is mainly cake based, but with a twist - each recipe uses a vegetable! i decided to make the light chocolate cake (made with butternut squash) for my friend may as a birthday gift. i didn't get to try it but the reports have been good

ingredients.

3 medium eggs
160g caster sugar
200g peeled and grated butternut squash
120g white rice (or plain) flour
3 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
80g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
125ml buttermilk

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i used 200g melted chocolate and some sugar flowers for the topping and decoration, however, the book suggests:

50g unsalted butter
200g icing sugar
50g marscapone
4 tsp cocoa powder

method.

1. preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. line an 18cm cake tin with baking parchment and brush a little vegetable oil over the base and sides. (i used my bundt tin again!)

2. whisk the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl for about 4 minutes until pale and fluffy. beat in the butternut squash, followed by the flour, cocoa powder, ground almonds, baking powder, bicarb and salt. add the buttermilk and beat again until the ingredients are well mixed.

3. pour the mixture into the tin and bake for approximately 30 minutes. once cooked, remove the cake from the oven and peel off any baking parchment. leave to cool on a wire rack.

4. to make the icing that is recommended, beat the butter with 100g of the sugar in a large mixing bowl, until they form a paste. add the marscapone, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt, along with the remaining sugar. beat together. refrigerate for fifteen minutes, and spread over the cake once it has cooled.

i didn't use this icing! instead, i melted 200g of dark chocolate in a pan over a low heat, then spread it thinly over the top of the cake, before decorating with small icing flowers.