We want a good red beet cake. We have friends who love the classic Southern Red Velvet, but we object to the entire bottles of red food coloring that go into most recipes. Beets add such a sweet, moist texture that we just really want to find a recipe that incorporates them into a proper red cake. This attempt was a disappointment but also a pleasant surprise...
It was too chocolatey - not a bit of red to be seen, and the beets were obviously well-camouflaged. This was disappointing, but the cake itself was wonderful. It has a stunningly light, moist texture and as far as straight chocolate cakes go, it may beat out our favorite dark chocolate cake recipe.
So we give it to you in the spirit of recipe testing and development. We're still trying to get that red beet cake, although we're starting to suspect that chemically it's pretty tough to bake beets into a cake batter and keep their color. But still, stay tuned for our next try...
Velvety Beet and Cocoa Cake
2 9-inch cake layers
3/4 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups pureed canned beets, juice drained off and 1/2 cup reserved
1/2 cup reserved beet juice
Heat the oven to 350'F. Cream the butter and sugar and beat in the eggs until light, pale, and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and add in alternating amounts with the milk. Add the beets and beet juice and mix for a couple minutes or until very smooth. Pour into two greased 9-inch cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Layer with lightly sweetened whipped cream and cacao nibs.
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I've never heard of this. Does it taste like beets?
(Anyone in Seattle - the best red velvet cake is at Kingfish on 19th. Damn....... Just had one last week.)
view mjoe's profile
Try it with fresh beets - the color is much deeper.
view JLR's profile
If you're taking a cue from Red Velvet Cake, decrease the amount of cocoa. Red Velvet recipes typically call for 2 tsp to 2 tbl cocoa--not a lot, but it does the trick. Your beet color will probably shine through then.
view catlike's profile
i tried this last night and it was great. the beets added a certain vague taste, almost like a mild spice. it was really, really moist, and the whipped cream worked well as a topping.
view mfm's profile
Is this anything like the Vevlet cupcake from Sprinkles in LA? Do they use beets as well cuz it's really moist as well!
view ViciousV's profile
A friend of mine, a pastry chef as it happens, makes the best chocolate cake I have ever had (she even baked it as her wedding cake): a chocolate carrot cake. She hasn't shared the recipe with me (yet!), but I suspect it is probably somewhat similar to this. You don't notice any carrot texture or taste, rather, it is incredibly moist and chocolatey....mmmm...
view mschatelaine's profile
Maybe it would help, too, to add beet juice to the frosting...
view karyn's profile
Hope someone will read this... How would you use fresh beets for this?
view pgc's profile
To pgc: Grate the raw beetroot like you would carrots for a carrot cake, it works very well.
view unread's profile
Watching an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay - with the cupcake lady (in L.A.?) she talked about beets in cake. She mentioned that during the depression, beet juice was used in red velvet cakes because of rationing. Perhaps as mayo was used in cakes to replace eggs/oil.
One of my favorites, chocolate mayonnaise cake. It's also my coworker's favorite thing that I bake.
view cara_mia's profile
Has anyone tried making this? 2 cups of sugar seems like a LOT. Just wondering if the cake is really sweet or not?
view oliviahh's profile
i love red velvet cake!!! rvc calls for 2T cocoa (typically), not much... it's not supposed to be chocolately, but rather added to richen, or deepen the flavour of the cake. some say the the"original" red velvet cake was made with beets, so it's nothing new and you can find many recipes using beets (in rvc) on the internet.
view miki's profile