Spinach Cake with Vanilla Frosting

spinachcakevanillafrosting The spinach makes this cake a vibrant green colour, but you can’t actually taste the spinach. It tastes like a vanilla sponge, but there’s a little added goodness in there from the leafy greens. It makes for a fun cake colour and it’s perfect for parties.

3 cups raw spinach (150 g)
3 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¾ cup Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol (Granular) (150 g)
⅔ cup smooth applesauce (100 g)
½ cup vegetable oil (100 mL)
2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached (250 g)
3 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. sea salt

Vanilla Frosting:
½ stick unsalted butter (75 g)
2 cups Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol (Powdered), sifted (250 g)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. milk

Garnish:
sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4). Grease and line 2 (8"/20 cm) cake tins.

For the Spinach Cake:
Steam or simmer the spinach for a few minutes until wilted. Run under cold water to refresh, drain and squeeze out any excess moisture.
Purée well with a hand blender and set aside.

Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, applesauce and sugar together well. Beat in the spinach purée.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and gently stir to combine.

Pour into the prepared tins and bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Vanilla Frosting:
Beat all ingredients together until fluffy. If necessary add a little more milk to thin or icing sugar to thicken. Refrigerate until ready to spread on the completely cooled cake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

Makes 12 servings.

Cook's Notes:

Purée the spinach to a paste for an even bright green colour. Add a Tbsp. of water if necessary to make it easier to purée.
Make it vegan: Use flax eggs, dairy-free butter and dairy free milk.
Flax eggs: For each egg (there are 3 in this recipe) mix 1 Tbsp. of ground flax with three Tbsp. of water. Allow to stand for 10 minutes and then use in the recipe where it calls for eggs.