Chocolate Beet Cake
This moist and luxurious chocolate cake was adapted from David Lebovitz, but it originally appeared in Nigel Slater's book Tender. The cake is rich but not too sweet. For best results, use good quality chocolate that is at least 60-70% cacao solids. Candied beets are optional, but I thought they made a nice finishing touch on the cake. They also give it some color and make it visually more interesting. Serve with a dollop of mascarpone cheese or some crème fraîche.
Category: Cakes
Recipe in PDF format (print friendly)
- Yields one 20cm cake
- Prep time: 20min
- Cook time: 40min
- Total time: 1h
- Difficulty: Intermediate
For the chocolate beet cake:
Ingredients
- 200g bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao solids), chopped
- 60ml hot espresso (or water)
- 200g butter (at room temperature), cubed
- 240g cooked beets, pureed
- 5 large eggs, separated
- pinch of salt
- 200g superfine sugar (castor sugar)
- 135g flour
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- some mascarpone cheese, to serve
Directions
Butter a 20 cm springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C. In a large bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate, stirring as little as possible. Turn off the heat but leave the bowl over the warm water. Pour in the hot espresso and stir. Then add the butter pieces and press them into the chocolate gently. Allow the butter to soften without stirring. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a separate bowl. Remove the bowl of chocolate from the heat and stir until the butter is melted. Let it sit for a few minutes to cool. Mix the egg yolks and briskly stir them into the melted chocolate mixture. Fold in the pureed beets. In a stand mixer, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Gradually fold the sugar into the whipped egg whites with a spatula, then fold them into the melted chocolate mixture, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the flour and cocoa powder. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and reduce the heat of the oven to 160°C. Bake the cake for 40 minutes, or until the sides are just set, but the center is still is just a bit wobbly. Do not overbake. Let the cake cool completely, then remove it from the pan.
For the candied beets:
Ingredients
- 2 cooked beets, sliced thinly
- 150ml water
- 150g sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 100°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, constantly stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add beets. Let it soak for 30 minutes. Transfer the beets to a baking sheet and bake until firm, about an hour. Transfer to a rack and cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Additional images
