Wednesday, November 4, 2009

This Beet is Sweet














Chocolate Beet Cake

1 cup softened, unsalted butter

1.5 cups packed dark brown sugar

3 room temperature eggs

3 ounces dark chocolate

5 medium beets ( 2 cups once pureed)

2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

Confectioners sugar for dusting















Preparations:
For beet puree, trim roots and stems, quarter beets, place in water filled saucepan, bring to boil, reduce and simmer for about an hour. Drain liquid, rinse beet in cold water. remove skins and place beets in blender, process until a lump free puree is achieved. Let cool to room temperature.
Cream the3/4 cup butter and brown sugar, add eggs individually, incorporate each egg well before adding the next egg. Melt shaved chocolate with the remaining 1/4 cup of butter in microwave. It is best to do this in small time increments ( 20 seconds) stir, then microwave again until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly, then blend the chocolate mixture withe the beet puree and the vanilla. This blend will be somewhat separated in appearance.
Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, add to the creamed mixture . Incorporate fully. Pour cake batter into a greased and floured 10" spring form pan. Bake @ 375 for 60 -70 minutes. ( clean toothpick check is advised. Cool for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack, let cool completely.

Cut a paper silhouette of a beet plant with top, lay silhouette on cake,
sprinkle with confectioners sugar.


Enjoy!

19 comments:

h said...

Okay, I would DEVOUR this cake and the presentation and photos are great. Especially like the relatively small amount of sugar.

fishy said...

Troll,
It's into the beet confessional for me. I downloaded the photos.... but then I do have that exact same milk glass cake plate. This, according to Southern folklore, is THE original recipe for red velvet cake. No red food coloring required.

moi said...

Oh, Fishy, you clever, clever gal. Tugging at the judge's taste buds with a CAKE! Major points for, well, doing that!

Buzz Kill said...

Beets for dessert - brilliant. Have you actually tried this cake? I wonder if the beets add anything more to it than color. The chocolate and sugar would proably drowned out the beet flavor. Great idea.

fishy said...

Moi,
if you like beet cake as much as Seattle doughnuts I might be a pretty decent honorable mention:-)

Buzz,
this cake is very yummy. Also a great family activity with the kiddos because it can be broken out into 3 different areas of responsibility which , when combined, results in an awesome whole. Maybe not quite as team building as a sport, but a great stay at home activity with a reward at the end.

Allison said...

OK, after going on and on about how I don't like beets, I am pretty sure I could eat this cake. And LOVE it.

Awesome job!

sparringK9 said...

i think this is doable. im sure the cake is nice and moist and the color rich. ive done that powdered sugar cut out design before for my valentine cakes. it is a beautiful presentation. well done fishy. love that cake stand. i think my mom had one.

fishy said...

Allison.
The cake is good, the beets add texture, color, a bit of sweet and a bit of spice. Thanks for visiting the pond, come again.

K9,
I adore this cake plate. In fact, I like any well done milk glass .... I actually have my Mom's collection of milk glass, and my MIL's too. I do like the powdered sugar designs for baked goods. Years ago I would use the templates for a cookie shooter as the stencil for powdered sugar cake decor! Good thing cause I was always messing up with the coookie shooter.

As for the cake ... it definitely IS very doable. It's actually a good idea to boil and puree the beets the day before making the cake.

Jenny said...

after cleaning up red beet juice, I was wondering how red this cake would be.... it's lovely and even if you didn't take these pictures, you picked a great recipe and somehow made beets look divine.

fishy said...

Boxer,
The "secret" to cleaning up the beet juice is to use the gel type of dishwasher goo. It is also the BEST way to get the red clay stains out of baseball uniforms.
Just call me hell- o-ease

sparringK9 said...

if you use cardstock and cut your design with an xacto or those new cricut cutters your design will hold up as well as the metal cookie shooter templates. even better are those laser die cut machines. you take your line drawing in and they cut the stencil in a thin but stiff plastic.

every year i make more of my christmas gifts. this year i believe i will be 100% handmade. i think your cake would be an elegant gift. buzz asked the critical question: does it actually TASTE good. i mean, cake should taste good.

fishy said...

Yes, it does taste great.

Kymical Reactions said...

holy cow. I think I'll be making this yumminess this weekend. will let you know how it turns out.

mmmmmmmmmm.


you get my vote for best way to eat a beet!

Karl said...

Good morning Fishy,

Well done!

I'm not much for sweets, but gee that sure looks good! The cinnamon and nutmeg must give it a nice little zing.

Pam said...

You win. Chocolate. No need to look further!

moi said...

I have declared a winner! Pop on over when you get a chance.

LaDivaCucina said...

I guess the beets work to add sweetness and moisture like zucchini chocolate cake? Could you taste any beet taste of just chocolate? In any case, very clever! I love the stencil, it's so perfect.

Aunty Belle said...

ho! Beeting the competiton wif' a sweet beet entry--heh!

gORGEOUS

Pam said...

Throw on something gray and come PR snarking!