Chocolate Beet Cake

Beet Cake-1

Well, we made it! We’ve moved to a new house.

The reason for my absence last week was primarily because I was simultaneously packing our life into boxes and entertaining Liam in a very non-childproofed house. Oye.

Thankfully, we had a great number of family and friends helping us with both the move and Liam this weekend.

Today is actually the first day it’s starting to look like a home. Our beds are made, we have some semblance of a living room, and a small area that is Liam-proofed. 😀

Beet Cake-3

I can’t wait to show you some photos of both our first house and of our now our new house! Our new house is located in our favorite neighborhood in Columbia. It’s within walking distance of parks and grocery stores…perfect for a family with one car and an active baby! 😀

It also has a spectacular sunroom that is going to be my saving grace for food photos! No more going outside to shoot in the blazing Southern summers and chilly winters. Woot!

Beet Cake

Okay. Now to this cake! I first made it as an experiment to see about making a red velvet cake without food coloring, after loving the chocolate beet cakes for two so much. I’m pretty sure I’d just need to add some raspberry or strawberry purée to get that gorgeous red color.

Despite the lack of red, this cake is ah-mazing! It’s one of those cakes like the black bean chocolate cake, where you’re hiding vegetables inside but there’s not a lick of vegetable flavor. The vegetables also make it incredibly moist…without the use of extra butter or eggs. My kind of cake!

The true test was my husband taking the cake to work and having his coworkers try it without knowing its secret ingredient. Then, after they had enjoyed a few mouthwatering bites, revealing that it’s made with beets. They were all shocked because of its deliciousness and impressed that it was made with beets! Genius.

I hope you get a chance to make it and enjoy it! 😀

I’m off to go unpack another 238 boxes.

Beet Cake-4

Chocolate Beet Cake

adapted from BakeCakery

Ingredients

  • 1 cup puréed beets
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons plain yogurt
  • 1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

How-To

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Line the bottom of two 6″ round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with canola oil. Set aside.
  3. Beat the wet ingredients (beets, oil, milk, yogurt, vinegar and eggs) together in a large bowl.
  4. Stir the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda) together in a small bowl until combined.
  5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined.
  6. Pour into the prepared pans (should be about 1.5 cups of batter for each cake pan).
  7. Bake for 30-45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
  8. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes.
  9. Gently flip the cakes onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
  10. Decorate with your favorite icing. I used a 16 ounce tub of cream cheese frosting.

36 comments

  1. I’m a novice baker…..how do you prepare the beets for this cake? I’ve never worked with beets. Would love to try it…it looks delish!

  2. Love, Love, Love this!!!! Can not wait to try it!

    Thanks girlfriend, glad the move went (is going) well, cant wait to see the photos. Enjoy your new home, hope you feel settled and can get some much needed rest and relaxation soon.

    xoxo

    1. Thanks Emma! 😀 Now I know what you went through with your move. Oye. No fun. Definitely deserves cake. 😉

  3. big congrats on your move! how exciting! but not the unpacking part. i still have some unopened boxes, from nine years ago when we moved, only because i just got tired of it – so they’re sitting in one room here in our apt. that said i seriously feel your pain, but you’ll get there.

    1. Haha…yeah. I hope I’ll get them all unpacked within the month, but even then, that’s pushing it! Ugh. No fun. I’d rather make cake. 😉

  4. I’m so glad the move went smoothly and I hope you settle into your new home quickly! The last time I had a beet cake, it had massive chunks in there which really wasn’t appetising at all. This looks so much more delicious!

    1. Thanks Kathryn! And ewwww…I wouldn’t have been able to stomach a chunky beet cake. You should definitely give this one a go. It’s delicious…and not beet-y. 🙂

  5. I just tried out this recipe, and it came out pretty good. The texture is absolutely beautiful, but I must say that I would have added more cocoa, as I can definitely detect a slight beet taste.

  6. I made this recipe twice this weekend and both times it turned out great! I had to make a couple of substitutions because of what I had on hand. Used corn oil, white flour, and vanilla yogurt (a very mild vanilla yogurt). You can’t taste the beets at all and it was being served to some…. ahem… picky eaters would definitely would’ve said if something was off.

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