This oil-free, vegan chocolate beet cake has no hint of the beet about it. Dark and rich-tasting, it’s a great way to get some beta carotene into your dessert!
Please allow me this one cutesie title, and I promise not to do it again (fingers crossed secretly behind back).
That’s no misspelling you see in the title. I actually made chocolate cake yesterday and put beets in it. And, if you’re asking (as my husband D. did) Why?, then I’ll tell you as I so eloquently told him, Just because.
Just because I had a single solitary beet in the fridge and I wanted to get rid of it. Just because Dr. Fuhrman lists beets as one of “10 SuperFoods to Use in Your Recipes.” But primarily just because I vowed to get E. to eat beets and like them!
And…it worked! I watched as she finished her piece of cake with Banana-Peanut Butter Sauce, and just as I was about to inform her of the secret ingredient, she looked up at me, reading my mind as only a child can, and said, “Hey, what happened to that yucky red stuff you were cooking?” “It’s in the cake,” I said, with only a hint of evil glee. “Cool,” she said, and brought her plate to the sink.
Well, that was a let-down. But the cake wasn’t. It’s very dark-cocoa tasting, with no hint of the beet about it. It’s not terribly sweet, so probably next time I’ll add a bit more sugar. And I’ll put it in a smaller pan, or perhaps in two 8-inch round pans. But it’s definitely a keeper–and a slick way to get whole wheat flour and beta carotene into your loved ones.
This was such a hit that this morning as I was packing her lunch, E. said to me, “Mom, put some of that beet cake in. I want to eat my veggies!”
Beet Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 large beet
- water
- unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup whole wheat flour I like white whole wheat
- 1/2 cup unbleached white flour or more whole wheat
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Peel and dice one large beet. Place the pieces in a saucepan with water to cover and boil until soft. (I’ve heard that you can buy canned beets, so you may want to skip this step–and the resulting red hands–by using pre-cooked beets.) Allow the beets to cool, and then drain them, reserving the red water for another purpose. Put the drained beets into the food processor with 1/4 cup (clear) water, and process until pureed.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Oil or spray your cooking pan(s).
- Put the pureed beets into a 2-cup measure. Add enough apple sauce to reach the 2-cup line. Add the 2 tablespoons water, vanilla extract, and apple cider to the beets and mix well.
- Mix the dry ingredients together; then add the beet mixture and stir until well-combined. Bake for 35-60 minutes, depending on the size of pan you use: more for small, deep pans and less for a 9X13 pan. (I used a 9X13 pan, and it took 35 minutes.) Test by inserting a toothpick into the center; it’s done when the toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.
Notes
- 1/2 of a 12-ounce package lite, firm silken tofu
- 1 banana
- 2 tbsp. natural peanut butter
- 1/4-1/3 cup agave nectar, to taste
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
Nutritional info is approximate.
Tom
This was really tasty, a very moist, lightly sweet cake. I was disappointed with the German chocolate frosting recipe though, it came out like glue and tasted terrible. I tossed it and made a tofutti cream cheese icing with coconut and pecans stirred in. It was for a party and everyone loved it!
Karen Lunzman
This came out perfect!! So moist and the frosting drizzle really topped it off. Even my non vegan family and friends couldn’t stop themselves. Another winner Susan☺️
Maria
This cake was delicious! And the texture was perfect! Is there a flour I could use instead of wheat (I did both wheat flours) instead to make it gluten free?
ACC
Do you think reconstituted pb2 would work well to replace the peanut butter in the frosting?
Susan Voisin
I haven’t tried it, but it’s worth a shot!
Amelia
Thank you for the recipe! Does the cake need to be refrigerated?
Susan Voisin
I think it could stay out for a day or two, but I would refrigerate it after that.
Jules
Had to add 1/2 cup oat milk to make it the consistency I wanted and used a half cup of applesauce as well. The cake came out freaking amazing. I used whole wheat pastry flour and a little bit of all-purpose, as well as monk fruit sweetener instead of sugar.
So moist, so delicious, SOOOO GOOD!!!!!
Dina Anthony
Hi. Thank you for the recipe. Do you think oat flour would work in place of the wheat flour? I would like to make this but usually use oat flour. Thank you in advance for your reply.
Rema
I made this using one package of Beetology whole cooked beets. I also used 1/4 cup Nesquik chocolate powder + 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (rather than 1/2 cup cocoa powder), 1/3 cup maple syrup (instead of 1 cup sugar), and 1 tbsp water (not 2 tbsp). I baked it in a 9” round glass pie dish for 55 min. Very delicious. Nicely sweetened and not terribly unhealthy 😉