Way out West (incorporating Way up North)

Hmm, perhaps a tad too much gingham and 'ma grannies hieland hame' type products to qualify as a proper farm shop, but where they did startle us was in the range and quality of their baking. There's definitely another blog on the scottish addiction to tray bakes and cake, but that's not for today. We decided to sample something, as we had another three hours to drive before we got home and we were both rather tired. After ordering our coffees (the arrival of well-made coffee in the highlands is recent and hasn't been sufficiently celebrated in my opinion), we admired the bakery section.

The confection that caught both our eyes was a glossy black crag of a cake, covered in white chocolate sprinkles, the label declared it to be; Chocolate and Beetroot. As we like both of those ingredients, the decision was straightforward, and the cake turned out to be rather a revelation, beetroot acting in a similar way to carrot and imparting a delicious moistness to the confection. Our only criticism was that it was perhaps all a bit too much, it has a cream cheese filling and a dark chocolate ganache, and all in all, is a bit on the rich side. I mentally filed it under 'must research the recipe' and left it to fester.

When I saw that our local farm outlet (and this is not a shop, but rather a garden shed on wheels that lurks in the mud on the corner of a field and sells mainly root vegetables), had some very fresh beetroot, I decided to give it a go:

Excuse the cheesy shape, we bought a camp cake tin and this was an opportunity to try it out.

I reduced the quantities of filling and ganache, and I'd venture that it was none the worse for that. It also keeps very well. Should anyone want the recipe, let me know through comments and I can mail it, or post it up.