1. Mix together:

2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

2. Sift together:

2 ½ cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
½ cup cocoa
½ teaspoon salt

3. Grate or mash 2 cups of cooked beetroot.

4. Add beetroot alternatively with sifted ingredients to the sugar/oil/eggs/vanilla mixture.

5. Place the mixture into a large greased and lined cake tin – I use a ring tin and cook for 45- 50 minutes at 180 Celsius/360 Fahrenheit/ gas 4-5. It needs to be quite moist when ready.

6. Ice with chocolate icing:

Melt 1 tablespoon butter and add 1 cup of icing sugar and 1 heaped tablespoon of cocoa sifted together. Mix together with 1 ½ tablespoons of hot water. Add a little more icing sugar if too runny or a little more (no more than a teaspoon extra at a time) hot water if desired. Spread on cake and enjoy.