Wartime Beetroot cake … ‘I should cocoa’

Grandma lived through WW1 and 2 and I’ve often thought about how this affected her approach to food and baking. I’ve been doing talks about wartime baking and rationing and meeting some interesting people who have memories of the difficulties of preparing food in WW2 so it’s been fascinating to try out some of the recipes from that period.

I've been given a recipe for Beetroot cake. As with many ingredients in short supply or on the rationing list, alternatives had to be found and, in this case, beetroot replaced most of the cocoa powder. You might have used dried eggs, different fats and most certainly wholemeal flour.

Beetroot cake

150g/5oz butter

175g/6oz sugar

2 eggs (beaten)

250g/9oz beetroot (cooked)

2 tbsps white wine vinegar

160ml/5 fl oz milk

250g flour

2-3 tbsps cocoa powder

2 tsps baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan), mark 4. Line a 21cm/8 inch round or square cake tin. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs. Blend the beetroot to a puree and add the vinegar and milk and add this to the mixture. Mix the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and fold this in. Pour this mixture into the tin and bake for around 45 minutes.  

 

Meryl says : Another wartime recipe is Vinegar cake which has found some fans but suffers from its sour name. But Beetroot cake is now popular with modern cooks and has certainly reinvented itself. Whether you like beetroot or not, this cake must have been a real treat during those dark wartime days; I should cocoa. See what you think!