Chocolate...and beets?

Interesting idea, but somewhere, something went horribly wrong. Last night, I was quite keen to dive into a lovely looking beetroot and chocolate cake. My hopes were quite high, as I am familiar with the delights of such treats as courgette bread and muffins (a.k.a zucchini bread and muffins where I'm originally from), pumpkin bread, muffins, cakes, pies (oh, I could wax lyrical about the uses of pumpkin in sweets), so I was well up for, potentially, a new addition to my favourite baking recipes. But, oh dear, something must have happened to these beautiful, bewitching beets. The cake looked gorgeous and moist, the texture was perfect, but the taste went somewhere back to the vegetable patch, more 'beet-y' than it should have. Ideally, the beets should behave in a subtle and polite, 'no, no, please, after you' good mannerly way with the chocolate, resulting in a rich, moist cake.  Ah well, I must do a bit of research and try to find a recipe on my own (unless someone can recommend one...?).

To make good for the compost's gain and my chocolate-y loss, I decided to make my tried and tested banana bread with chocolate chips - fabulous! Just in case you're interested, here's the recipe:

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

1/3 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. mashed ripe banana (I mean really ripe, very spotty, even towards black = perfect)
Big handful of chocolate chips (I prefer Nestle's Toll House, but they're not available in the shops in the UK, so any really good chocolate chips you can find)

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs & beat. Sift dry ingredients. Add to cream mixture alternatively with bananas, blending after each addition. Spoon into a greased 9 1/2 x 5 x 3" loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a knife or toothpick comes out almost completely clean. Remove from pan. Best served when still warm.

Yes, I know this is all in cups and teaspoons etc., but when I make British recipes, I use this great website to convert everything for me (which can convert for American recipes as well, good stuff): http://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_volume_cooking.htm

This recipe reminds me of a faaaaabulous chocolate and banana cake that was served warm with chocolate sauce and a side of single cream, in a cute wee pitcher, oh MY! When I was a student (never mind when), my flatmate told me about her discovery of a café on Otago Street in Glasgow's West End, which, sadly, is now out of business. I used to go as often as I could to have just this cake for lunch, and now, I can only dream about it's choco-banana loveliness.

Hmmm, you know I didn't intend this to be a 'baking blog', but I'm very happy to share my favourite recipes for cakes, pies (the American, sweet kind you have for pudding). Home baking always lifts my spirits, particularly when I can't get out and about to sample some of the local cafés' fare in the pudding department.