Red Beet Chocolate Cake

Red Beet Chocolate Cake

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 40 mins
  • Servings: 16

    • About This Recipe

    “You can use a jar baby food beets, canned beets in water that you pureed (NOT pickled) or roast your own beets then puree. You will be very surprised at how good this is.In taste and for your health.Beets are high in carbohydrates and low in fat. Containing phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium, as well as fiber, vitamins A and C, niacin, folic acid, and biotin.”

    Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cupsunbleached flour, sifted
  • 1 1/2 teaspoonsbaking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoonsalt
  • 1 1/2 cupssugar
  • 3largeeggs
  • 1cupvegetable oil
  • 1 -1 1/2 cupbeet, pureed( 15 ounce can of beets in water, drained and pureed is 1 cup)
  • 2ouncesunsweetened chocolate( Melt and cool the 2 1-oz squares of baking chocolate.)
  • 1teaspoonvanilla extract
  • confectioners’ sugar, sifted

    • Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Grease 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
  • Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
  • Combine sugar, eggs, and oil in a mixing bowl.
  • Beat with an electric mixer set at medium speed for 2 minutes.
  • Beat in the beets, cooled chocolate, and vanilla.
  • Gradually add dry ingredients, beating well after each addition.
  • Pour into prepared baking pan.
  • Bakefor 25 minutes or until cake tests done.
  • Cool in pan on rack.
  • Cover and let stand overnight to improve flavor.
  • Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

    • Reviews

  • “Delicious! Very chocolaty. No beet taste at all. Really moist and tasty. I used canned beets and added a few shakes of cinnamon, a teaspoon of Jameson whiskey (whiskey is great with chocolate! Try substituting it for water in your favorite boxed brownie mix… heavenly!), 1 teaspoon of chocolate extract, 2 Tbsp of Dutch Process cocoa (increased sugar by 4 Tbsp) and a pinch of cardamom. Cake tester came out clean after 25 min, but center was still gooey. Ensuring cake springs back when touched is a better test of doneness.”

  • “If I could give this more stars I would! This is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made. I used canned beets and added cocoa powder in addition to the melted chocolate. I was looking for a cake that would hold together when cut so I could make a kitty cake for my son’s 4th birthday(I posted some photos). This cake held together using several shapes of pans and was still unbelievably moist and delicious!! I’ll use this as my regular recipe every year. Thank you VERY much!! It was a hit with all the kids and parents too!”

  • “Delicious! I had fresh beets in my weekly produce delivery box and wanted to try something new with them. This recipe was it. I roasted the beets in the oven (drizzled with a little honey) and then pureed them in the blender. I also melted chocolate chips (about 1/2 c melted) because I didn’t have any unsweetened chocolate. It turned out great – and the kids loved it! They had no idea that beets were the secret ingredient in their “chocolate” cake.”

  • “WOW!! So good. I think I used a pan that was too small.I also subbed most of the oil for applesauce and it increased the bake time >20minutes.I also replaced1/3 cup flour with cocoa powder.Had I just added the cocoa powder my cook time might have stayed the same.”

  • “This cake is so delicious! I substituted half of the oil with applesauce and cut the sugar to one cup (I like my cake on the less sweet side). This turned out so moist and fluffy and no one could tell that there were beets in it. It didn’t taste off or funky, rather it added a depth of taste to it and was probably one of the best chocolate cakes we had eaten! I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for posting this recipe!”

  • “I really enjoyed this cake. I used 1/2 cup applesauce with 1/2 cup oil and would keep it that way since it turned out sooo moist. Grest texture also. It doesn’t taste like a regular chocolate cake, but I don’t find it tastes like beet. A great way to sneek in some extra veggie.”

  • “This was pretty good. I love beets and made it to convince a friend (who hates them) that they’re not that bad. DH and DD both liked the cake even with my “lightened up” changes. If you know there are beets in the cake, you can definitely taste them. If you don’t know, it just tastes like a nice, light chocolate cake “with something else…” but DH and DD never guessed BEETS!I boiled the beets, then peeled, then pureed.I got it down to 3 WW Point Plus Values/serving with the following changes:
    -replace all oil with unsweetened applesauce
    -replace eggs with 3/4 c Egg Beaters
    -24 servings, not 16
    -up to 3/4 c powdered sugar (which would be A LOT!)”

  • “I added an extra half-ounce of unsweetened chocolate. Texture is tender, very typical of an oil-based cake. Not very sweet, which is nice. Great aroma, and it does get better the next day. I will say that it tested done at 35 minutes with a toothpick, although the center did wobble a little when I shook it. Still, the pick came out dry and I took it out. And sure enough, it fell a little. No matter; still yummy. I do want to make it as a 2-layer cake with a mocha frosting, probably the one from the Cafe Beaujolais Cookbook.”

  • “I took this to a church dinner and noone could tell what the mystery ingredient.It is delicious and moist and easy to make, what more could you want.Definitely will be making this again!Thanks for sharing.”

  • “What a wonderful recipe, so incredibly moist.I put some chocolate chips in the batter and when it was done I put chocolate icing on.What a wonderful way to sneak some extra veggies into unsuspecting kids.Thank’s for posting.”

  • “Moist, but still with a beet flavor (which I don’t mind, but didn’t expect).I substituted no-sugar applesauce for the oil, and added pecans and some shredded chocolate for a little more texture.I don’t think I’d make it again.The zucchini chocolate cakes are tastier to me.”

  • “when i first read the ingredients for this cake i was skeptical, i never used beets for anything except salads, and since i love trying new recipes i decided to make the cake, it was very very delicious with an exotic taste coming from the beets, and it was so moist.i really loved the cake and planning to do it again.”

  • “Mine looks just like the photo.Anyone would like this and it has a wonderful texture.I used half oil, half aplasauce to cut down calories a bit, and 1 cup sugar and half a cup Splenda.I’ll be making this again for sure.The food processor didn’t get the beets to the texture I wanted, so I used the immersion blender on them after the food processor.”

  • “I think we had a similar experience to Codychop – this is a very good very moist cake – with “something” you just can’t put a finger on.I could of course, I roasted the beets, and peeled the beets, and pureed the beets, and tried VERY hard not to get beet juice on anything white! :)So I was kind of “primed”, but I served this to my extended family and most people liked it.My picky picky 5 yo DD loved it, even after being told it had beets in it halfway through, she continued gobbling. :)My DS loved it (he’s only one, though.He loves everything!) My DH, who hates chocolate cake says he didn’t like it, but it is by far the best chocolate cake he’s ever tried. :)We discussed maybe using semisweet chocolate or cinnamon to help downplay the “odd” flavor.I think I would make this again, playing with the seasonings if I recieve beets in my co-op share again. Thanks for an unusual experience! :)”

  • “Really delicious.I used fresh roasted beets (pureed) and 1/2 cocoa powder instead of the melted squares.It turned out very moist and tasty. It definitely had a goofy flavor though.Not bad though…you just can’t really hide the fact there’s ‘something’ extra in this cake….like a pound of beets or something :)”

  • “Amazing! If I had not put them in there myself I would not have known there were beets in this cake. It should also be noted that I don’t like beets but I sure did like this cake. I did add 2 ounces more chocolate because after tasting the batter, I found it to be sweet but without much of a flavour.I poured into muffin tins and made as cupcakes. They were moist and chocolatey. Yum. From now on this is the only chocolate cake recipe that I’ll be serving and I won’t be telling about the beets cause no one will believe me anyway:-)My only concern is the amount of oil in this recipe will see if I can tweak it to make it more heart healthy.”

  • “Nice moist cake. Very different to use beets in here. You do NOT taste the beets, it just does something wonderful to the chocolate and gives it a BOOST of yum! GREAT recipe Rita! Thanks for sharing! “

  • “Absolutely great cake. Cannot believe the red beet I have always disliked could be used in a cake! I can’t stop eating it once I have a piece…neither can the family :)can’t wait to buy beet again!thank u so much for posting this recipe…”

  • “I was just as intrigued by this recipe when I came across it in the Canadian Forum as I had been when I first came across what is surely a younger sibling or perhaps a cousin recipe: Trick and Treat Muffins Recipe #125634.Having made the muffins, I was fully confident of excellent results with Rita’s chocolate cake recipe and the results were an absolute delight!A deliciously moist and flavoursome cake which everyone has LOVED!Everyone has wanted a second slice.I’m really looking forward to sharing this with others.No-one but NO-ONE has guessed at that secret – beetroot – ingredient, and everyone is totally astonished when told that it is a major ingredient.Be prepared to send a piece of this cake home with your friends when they try this and have some copies of the recipe on hand: they’ll want both!”

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