Chocolate Beet Cake with Strawberry Filling

Here on the farm we grow most of what we eat. That is mostly a good thing. I say mostly because it does mean that when the harvest comes in the hubby picks and then I have to process what he brings in. Last week it was the beets. 75 pounds of them to be exact. That is a lot of beets. This year for the first time I made borscht to can and the rest of them I put in the freezer. It’s easy to freeze beets. I did keep a few out because I had heard that chocolate beet cake is delicious and I wanted to try one. I was a little bit skeptical but I can now tell you that I don’t know why I waited so long. Chocolate beet cake is AWESOME! It’s rich, moist and like no other chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. I want to make another one. Like NOW.

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Table of Contents

Serves 16

1 1/2 pounds beets, trimmed, peeled and quartered

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4 oz 70% dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup Dutch processed cocoa

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

6 TBS milk

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups strawberry jam

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/4 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature

12 TBS unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

This is adapted from a cupcake recipe and designed to be made in a food processor. The totality of the recipe won’t fit in the processor at one time so I made each layer separately using 1/2 of each ingredient at a time. The photos show this and I followed the process twice to make the final cake. It’s a bit of a pain in the tail but the final cake is worth the effort.

Preheat the oven to 350° and set a rack in the middle. Prepare two 9″ cake pans. Grease and flour. If you have parchment rounds add them and grease and flour.
You will be using half of the ingredients for these steps
Add the shredding disc to the food processor and grate the beets. Add them to a bowl and heat in the microwave for 4 minutes until they are soft and start releasing their juices. Stop halfway through and stir.
Place the chopping blade in the food processor. Add the microwaved beets.
Microwave the chocolate at 50% power stirring until melted
Mix the cocoa and vegetable oil until combined
Add the melted chocolate and chocolate mixture to the beets in the food processor and let cool slightly.
Process beets and chocolates until smooth about 45 seconds.
Add sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, baking soda and salt and process until sugar is mostly dissolved and mixture has emulsified.
Add flour and pulse until just combined. Do not over mix.
Pour batter into one of the prepared pans.
Repeat with the second half of the ingredients
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack

Make the Frosting

Beat the butter, cream cheese, vanilla and salt until creamy,
Reduce speed and slowly add sugar until combined
Beat the frosting on med high until light and fluffy
Refrigerate to firm up

Build the Cake

Place the first layer of the cake bottom down on your serving piece.
Add frosting to a piping bag with a large tip attached. Pipe around the outside edge to create a dam.
Fill the center with the strawberry jam. Cover with a layer of frosting.
Top with the second cake layer bottom side up.
Frost the cake first with a light crumb coat. Place the cake in the refrigerator to harden up a bit and then finish frosting

How Was the Chocolate Beet Cake with Strawberry Filling?

Oh.My.Word. This was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten. I cannot believe I have never tried adding beets to chocolate cake before. It was moist. It was rich and I will admit to possibly eating more than one piece at a time.

I even made some ice cream to go with it because it was so very good. Cake that chocolately just cries out for ice cream. But trust me, it was awesomely delicious without the ice cream. I will be making this again – and soon. You would never know the beets are in there. It’s rather like a moist brownie cake.