Chocolate Beet Cake

Chocolate Beet Cake

Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker

I like to eat cake. I like to look at cakes too and come up with creative ways of making them look festive. In fact, my sister and I each won first place in our Elementary school cake decorating contest 11 consecutive years between the two of us. We do cakes well you could say. One year my sister made a sinking titanic cake that was at a 45 degree angle coming out of the water. Another year I made a life size ballerina cake, tutu and all. And then there was the year that my sister made a train cake with little cars all decorated differently and there was little mishap in the middle of the night. See I got a little hungry and thought I would be able to sneak off a corner of the caboose and smear a little frosting over my bite to cover it up and voila, no one would be able to know. In the morning my sister noticed something funky going on with her cake and freaked out. My mom said we probably had a rat in the house that ate a chunk. The two quickly whipped up a little more cake and frosting and repaired the caboose until it looked normal again. I never confessed it was me who ate a chunk off the end until a few weeks later, and although it was a little hilarious, my sister was pretty angry despite the fact she had won again that year. But hey, I was the little sister and it was my job to be a little rambunctious sometimes! 

After leaving Elementary school, I haven't gotten a chance to make such extravagant cakes but I always welcome another opportunity to be creative. This particular cake I made for last Valentines Day. It is the densest chocolate cake I have ever eaten and also contains my favorite vegetable: Beets!! The frosting is naturally dyed from the beets and you can pretty much say it's healthy (ahem....butter, cream cheese.... obviously don't count). This cake is good for any occasion though and I'm sure I'll make it again soon. 

Ingredients for Cake:

2 medium beets

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

6 ounces (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pans

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs

Ingredients for Frosting:

8 ounces (1 brick) cream cheese, softened

4 to 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons finely grated beets, mashed with a fork

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or scrapings of one vanilla bean pod

1-2 teaspoons milk, depending on desired consistency

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

pinch of salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Wash and trim beets and roast in a pot of boiling water until tender, about 40 min. The skin of the beets will start to easily peel away.

3) When beets are fully cool, using a Cuisinart or hand-held grater, finely grate beets. 

4) Prep two 9 in baking pans with butter and a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of each pan. 

5) With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. 

6) One at a time, beat in the eggs. 

7) Next beat in grated beets and vanilla.

8) In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. 

9) Slowly add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mix. Add half the amount of buttermilk. Add the other half of dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk. Mix until fully incorporated but not over-mixed. It is thick batter! (And therefore dense cake!)

10) Scrape batter into the two cake pans and bake 23-25 min until a knife or cake tester comes out clean from the center. 

While cake is baking, make the frosting.

1) With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add butter and mix until combined. 

2) Add beets, then powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, lemon juice, and salt. Beat until silky. 

3) Place in refrigerator for until cakes are completely cooled. 

To assemble cake merely place one layer of your cake on the surface you will serve it from. Frost the top of this cake. Place the other layer on top. Then completely frost the top and sides of the cake. It will be a gorgeous pink color from the beets!