My Heart Beet Cake is one of the recipes in the chocolate cake chapter of Quinntessential Baking. Adding a little puréed beetroot to my basic chocolate cake mixture makes the crumb extra moist and also produces a very subtle red hue – a natural version of the traditional red velvet cake. The dried beetroot hearts used to decorate the cake highlight this unexpected ingredient. They also look rather like dried rose petals – and there’s a dash of rose water in the sweetened mascarpone topping too – making this an ideal Valentine’s or even wedding cake. To create bite-sized heart beet cakes, the mixture can be made into mini cupcakes. Topped with a loving amount of mascarpone and single beetroot heart, they make great wedding favours. They are also a favourite of mine to give away whatever the occasion may beet!