Chocolate Beet Mudcakes

Don’t freak out, but you can eat bread… just not made from grains. And you can have sweet… just not from processed sugar. From Sprouted Buckwheat Bread with Pete Melov, to Coconut Macaroons with Anthia Koullouros, to Mixed Berry Muffins, to Beetroot Cake with Avocado/Chocolate icing.

Serves:8

Ingredients

  • Mudcake
    • 300 g (2 cups) mixed macadamia nuts and Brazil nuts, activated
    • 6 medjool dates, pitted
    • 40 g (¼ cup) dried currants, dried blueberries, or dried cranberries
    • 70 ml (1/3 cup) maple syrup
    • 3 beetroots, peeled and grated, plus more to serve
    • 200 g (2 ¼ cups) unsweetened shredded dried coconut, plus more to serve
    • 4 tablespoons raw cacao powder
    • 4 tablespoons carob powder
    •  ½ teaspoon vanilla powder or
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
    • 2 tablespoons golden flaxseed meal
  • Icing
    • 2 avocados, halved, pitted, and peeled
    • 60 g (½ cup) raw cacao powder
    • 170 g (½ cup) raw honey
    • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla powder
  • Chocolate shavings
    • 120 ml ( ½ cup) coconut oil, melted
    • 1 ½ tablespoons raw cacao powder, sifted
    • 1 ½  tablespoons carob powder, sifted
    • 1 tablespoons  raw honey

Method

  1. To make the mudcakes, in a food processor, process the nuts to the consistency of bread crumbs. Add the dates, currants, and maple syrup and process until smooth. Add the grated beetroots, coconut, cacao powder, carob powder, vanilla powder, and flaxseed meal and blend until well combined and even in texture. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place eight 5 by 5 cm cake ring moulds on the baking tray. Divide the mixture among the moulds and place in the freezer for about 40 minutes to firm up.
  2. To make the icing, blend the avocados, cacao powder, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and   ½ teaspoon sea salt in a clean food processor and pulse until smooth. Using a palette knife, cover the cakes with the icing. Place the cakes in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  3. To make the chocolate shavings, mix the coconut oil, cacao powder, carob powder, and honey in a bowl. Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread the mixture onto the paper as thinly as possible. Leave at room temperature for 5 minutes, then carefully roll the paper to form a cylinder and place in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes and up to 20 minutes to harden. Once the chocolate has hardened, peel the paper away; you will be left with pretty chocolate shavings. Place these on the baking sheet and return them to the refrigerator for another 2 to 5 minutes to firm up again.
  4. Garnish the mudcakes with dried coconut, grated beetroots, and chocolate shavings and serve.

Serves: 8