Bake this cake for Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year and my brother in law early birthday celebration. This is not an easy cake to bake, it required time management, patience, and pouring out your love to bake it. I have to make heart shapes chocolate, and strawberries chocolate one day in advance.

It’s my first time trying to marble strawberries covered chocolate and trial and error experimenting cake method. As you can see in the picture, it has not been exactly marble as I have wanted. But am glad to be able to try and make some design on it. Next time will be better. Will try again when I get some more chocolate. The more I practice it will be marble perfect and beautiful for my next cake perhaps.

Having some leftover chocolate that will expire in 3 days, I decided to do icing instead of spreading jam in most of my creation cake. My cake turned out perfect, delicious and I am glad that everyone like it. Serve with the remaining heart shapes and strawberries coated chocolate. Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Birthday. Enjoy!!!!

Ingredients

White heart shapes chocolate

280 g white melting chocolates
5 Tbs thickened cream
1 Tsp olive oil
water

Strawberries coating in dark chocolate and white chocolate

10 strawberries
85 g dark cooking chocolates broken into pieces
1 Tsp truffle infused oil
30 g white chocolate melting
water

Cake

250 g softened butter
200 g castor sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla extract
2 eggs
213 g beetroot
300-350 g self raising flour
35 g cocoa powder
125 ml thickened cream, plus 25 ml for puree beetroot
1 1/2 Tsp baking powder
100 g dark chocolates, broken into pieces
1 Tsp truffle oil
water, if needed

Chocolate icing

100 g dark chocolates, broken into pieces
1 Tsp truffle oil
water

Method

One day in advance

Fill a pot with a bit of water making sure it does not touch the glass bowl on top of pot and glass bowl fits tightly; no steam should escape through all sides. Bring water to a lower simmer. Add white chocolate for heart shapes and allow to melt while gently stirring until completely melted. Add thicken cream and oil, stir to mix well and set aside to cool. Then spoon in the heart shapes mould. Place in freezer overnight to set. Next day removed to fridge for easy to unmould them. I left them in the mould until I am ready to use.

Place a cookie pan in freezer. Wash and really dry strawberries make sure no remaining water. Transfer to dry towel to dry further. Using the same pot with a bit of water to make strawberries coating in dark chocolate and white chocolate, making sure enough water still and making sure it does not touch the clean glass bowl on top of pot and glass bowl fits tightly; no steam should escape through all sides.

Bring water to a lower simmer. Add dark chocolate and allow to melt while gently stirring until completely melted. Add oil, stir to mix well and set aside to cool. Now using the same bowl for white chocolate earlier. Bring water to a lower simmer. Add white chocolate and allow to melt while gently stirring until completely melted and set aside to cool to temperature about 27 degrees.

If dark chocolate has hardened, remelt using the pot with water, stirring it, don’t want it to be too hot, temperature should be about 27 degrees. Pour into a deep bowl gives a stir or two. Take out cookie pan from freezer and lined with baking paper. Dry again the strawberries one last time.

Drizzle some white chocolate on top of dark chocolate. Then use chopstick to lightly swirl not too much. Grab a strawberry by the leaves, use toothpick poke through strawberry then drag and roll it across the surface. This shallow horizontal dip will yield a marble pattern. Hold strawberry over the bowl gently shake off excess off. Place chocolate covered strawberry on the lined cookie pan. Repeat until no more white chocolate; then add more and repeat until all strawberries are covered in marble chocolate. Refrigerate overnight in an airtight container.

The next day

Make the cake

Puree beetroot, 25 ml thickened cream and 2 Tbs water in Nutri Bullet until smooth and set aside. Fill a pot with a bit of water making sure it do not touch the glass bowl on top of pot and glass bowl fits tightly; no steam should escape through all sides. Bring water to a lower simmer. Add dark chocolate and allow to melt while gently stirring until completely melted. Add oil, stir to mix well and set aside to cool. Preheat oven 180 degrees C. Grease and line 20 cm square spring form and set aside.

Beat butter, castor sugar and vanilla extract until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time beating well each addition. Add in pureed beetroot, flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, melted cool chocolate, thickened cream and stir to combine. Check consistency of batter should be right not too runny and too thick. If too thick add a bit of water. Spoon into prepared pan and smooth the top. Gives a couple gentle knock on bench top.

Bake 50 -60 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Switch off oven leave pan in with oven door closed for 1 hour. After 1 hour bring cake out to rack to cool further for 20 minutes before flip out onto cake base to cool further 15 minutes. Now fill a pot with a bit of water making sure it does not touch the glass bowl on top of pot and glass bowl fits tightly; no steam should escape through all sides. Bring water to a lower simmer to make chocolate icing. Add dark chocolate and allow to melt while gently stirring until completely melted. Add oil, stir to mix well and set aside to cool.

To make icing chocolate, when chocolate and cake are cool, pour the chocolate on top of cake and quickly spread all over. I make mine icing a bit of rocky uneven for some design. Then let it set and harden a bit. Just before serving the cake. Bring out white chocolate heart shapes and marble chocolate strawberries. Place 4 strawberries in each corner, one big one in the middle followed by 3 heart shapes and two lighted candles (OPT) as this is my brother-in-law birthday cake. Serve with coffee, dessert wine or tea. Enjoy!!!!!

Note: Oven temperature may vary. Start baking at 40 minutes first, if skewer out dirty with batter and chocolate, put back in continue baking further 10-20 minutes. If turn dark too fast cover with foil of cookie pan. You can add chocolate chips directly in by gently pressing into the batter if you don’t want to melt chocolate like I did. You can add sour cream about 180 g instead of thickened cream. This help cake to be moist.

https://helenscchin.com/2022/02/15/chocolate-beetroot-cake-with-white-heart-shapes-strawberries-chocolate-and-icing

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