Double Chocolate Beetroot Cake

From Kitchenaid, found on Yummly

Ingredients

  • 2 medium beets (288 g, peeled, cubed)

  • 2 tsp. espresso powder

  • 2 Tbsp. beet powder (18 g, for cake)

  • 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder (21 g)

  • 1 cup water (236 mL)

  • 1/2 cup sour cream (120 g, or whole fat yogurt)

  • 4 large eggs (224 g)

  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract (9 mL, for cake)

  • 1/4 cup olive oil (60 mL)

  • 3 cups sugar (600 g, for cake)

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (408 g)

  • 2 tsp. baking soda

  • 1 tsp. salt (5 g, for cake)

  • 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate (113 g)

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter (226 g, room temperature)

  • 16 oz. cream cheese (452 g, room temperature)

  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract (9 mL, for frosting)

  • 1/2 tsp. salt (2.5 g, for frosting)

  • 1 tsp. beet powder (1-2 tsp. or 3-6 g, for frosting, NOTE: the more added the pinker the frosting)

  • 7 cups powdered sugar (875 g, for frosting)

Directions

Make the beet purée. Place prepared beets in a pot and add enough water to cover them by an inch. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium high heat and cook for twenty minutes, or until a fork cleanly goes through. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked beets from the water and place them into the jar of a blender. Add 1/4 cup of the beet liquid from the pot into the blender jar (reserving the remaining liquid in the pot). Blend on medium speed until beets are a smooth purée consistency. Remove the purée from the blender and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/176°C. Grease 3 9-inch cake pans and dust with cocoa powder.

Bring the water and one cup of the beet liquid to a boil. (Discard the remaining beet liquid.) Remove from heat. In a separate bowl whisk together the cocoa, espresso, and beet powders then pour the boiling water over the powders, whisking to fully dissolve. Then, add one cup of the beet purée and the sour cream/yogurt and whisk again until combined. Set aside.

Combine the eggs, vanilla extract and the olive oil into a glass measuring cup with a pour spout. Do not mix. Set aside.

Attach the flex edge paddle attachment to a stand mixer or large bowl and add the sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt into the mixing bowl. Turn to medium and allow it to mix for 30 seconds, or mix with a hand beater on medium for the same amount of time. Reduce speed to very low and slowly pour the wet beet mixture into the dry mixture, then slowly add the egg/olive oil mixture one egg at a time. Once all wet ingredients are added, increase to low-medium for 10 seconds. Remove bowl from the mixer and set aside.

Melt the chocolate using a double-boiler method (making sure not to have the bowl touching the water), or microwave in ten second intervals. Hand whisk the melted chocolate into the batter.

Pour a third of the batter into each of the prepared cake pans and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove cakes from the oven and allow to sit on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing to completely cool.

While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting. Add butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract and salt to a mixing bowl. Cream the ingredients together on high speed until completely combined and nicely whipped, about 3-4 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add in the beet powder and 1/3 of the powdered sugar then increase to medium to incorporate; repeat two more times to mix in all of the powdered sugar, then allow to whip on medium for 60 seconds.

When the cakes have completely cooled, place one layer of cake on a plate or cake stand and use an offset spatula to gently spread an even layer of frosting over the top, then another cake, frosting, and last layer of cake. Top the cake with a final layer of frosting, a light dusting of beet powder and bing cherries. Chill completely to set the frosting before serving.

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