Chocolate Beet Cake

Beets. Before you say eww hear me out. Beets and chocolate were MEANT to be together. Both are earthy and rich. Their flavor profile couldn’t be any more similar so why not pair them together?

Truth is, I was worried people would prejudge the cake and hate it because of the beets. That was the complete opposite reaction. I filmed two media segments in two cities on the same day with this cake (it was 95 stinking degrees that day too). Since it was so hot and humid, I decided to cut large slices instead of taking the whole cake. One slice made it about 1 minute into the segment before more interviewer started eating it and the other was devoured by hungry interns as soon as the segment wrapped. That made me feel great about this recipe. The cream cheese frosting is next level too. Forget about that carrot cake, this beet cake is here to stay.

Chocolate Beet Cake

Yields 16 servings

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake time: 25 minutes

Cooling time: 60 minutes

 

1 3⁄4 cups unbleached AP flour, sifted

½ cup cocoa powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

¾ cup 2% plain yogurt

1 ½ cups of pureed beet (may use 15-ounce can of beets in water, no added salt)

4 ounces chocolate, 70% cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Beet Cream Cheese Frosting:

½ cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature

8 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature

3 cups of powdered sugar, sifted

2-3 tablespoons beet juice

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two 9-inch cake pans.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

Combine sugar, eggs, and yogurt in a mixer and mix for 2-3 minutes until well incorporated.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate using a double broiler, let cool slightly then add the melted chocolate to the pureed beets and vanilla. Then, add chocolate beet mixture to the sugar, eggs, and yogurt.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture until well incorporated. Pour into the two 9-inch cake pans and bake for 25 minutes. Test the doneness of the cake by inserting a toothpick into the middle. If the toothpick pulls out clean, the clean has finished baking.

While the cakes are baking, make cream cheese frosting by adding the butter and cream cheese into a stand mixer. Beat until incorporated and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Slowly add in powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add 1 tablespoon of beet juice into the frosting at a time until the desired color is achieved.

Cool the cakes in the pan on a wire rack for up to an hour before removing them from the cake pans. Once the cakes have been cooled and removed from the pan, frost the middle and top layer with beet cream cheese frosting.