Red velvet cake

Up until recently I don't think I'd heard of red velvet cake, then suddenly I was seeing references to it everywhere – in food-themed mystery novels, in cupcake shops, even in a shoe catalogue! It seems that red velvet cake is simply a purple-tinged chocolate cake. Some recipes use red food colouring, but another (healthier) option is to use fresh beetroot [Beta vulgaris, or beets]. I posted this recipe for my chocolate beetroot cake a couple of years ago, and with very little adjustment, it becomes red velvet cake! Here goes:

1 bunch beetroot (anywhere between 200 g and 500 g seems OK)
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
3 teaspoons baking powder
0.5 cup olive oil
4 eggs, beaten

Cook and purée the beetroot. (My tip: I wash, peel and chop the beetroot, then microwave it for about five to seven minutes. Make sure you put a lid on the container you use, or the microwave will end up looking like a crime scene. Cool the cooked beetroot before attempting to purée it.) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Oil and flour a 25 cm round cake tin. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder together. In another bowl, mix the oil, eggs and beetroot together. Fold all ingredients together. Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Cool on a rack, and serve topped with cream cheese icing:

100 g cream cheese
50 g butter
1 cup sifted icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup chopped nuts

Beat all together. Ice when cake is cold.

This cake contains vegetables and cheese. Could we perhaps argue that

it is actually a salad? (Just kidding!)