Speedy Chocolate Beet Cake

I was one of those little kids who loved beets. Mashed squash I couldn’t handle but I would always clean my plate when we were having boiled beets with supper.

I have a lot of savoury recipes that call for beets and wonderful recipes for cakes that calls for a puree of roasted beets. I had that in mind when I came across this recipe for a chocolate beet cake that uses raw beets, much like a carrot cake uses carrots. Because the beets don’t need to be pre-cooked you don’t need to plan ahead to make this recipe.

Local beets are plentiful at farmers markets now so it’s a great time to try this recipe. The cake isn’t too sweet and makes a delicious, simple dessert. No frosting required.

If you’re low on beets, or want to balance the earthy flavour of beets, use half grated beets and half grated carrots. Any variety of beets will do. 

As with all of my baking, I use stone ground whole white flour for this chocolate beet cake.

Speedy Chocolate Beet Cake

Recipe by Bridget OlandCourse: DessertsDifficulty: Easy

Servings

9

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

55

minutes

A quick, moist chocolate cake that uses beets much like a carrot cake uses carrots.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 cup milk

• 1/2 cup grape seed, olive or canola oil

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 2 tsp. vanilla

• 1 large beet, peeled & grated (about 2 cups)

• ½ cup chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a 9” x 13” pan with parchment paper or grease it well.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the milk, oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, then stir in the beets. Mix just until combined.
• Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
• Bake for about 40 min, until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.
• Let cool for about 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Notes

• Not enough beets? Top up with grated carrots.