What Is Beet Chocolate Cake?

Beet chocolate cake is made with the sweet, broken down parts of beets and the traditional flour, eggs, and chocolate of more traditional cakes. Although beets are root vegetables, they contain a lot of natural sugars that enhance the sweetness of a chocolate cake alone. A beet chocolate cake also has hidden vitamins, and when made well, it doesn't have a hint of veggie flavor after baking and cooling.

Adding beets to a cake recipe includes a few tips. Using pickled beets is not going to produce a flavor that appeals to most people, so plain beets typically work best. Canned beets work well as do fresh, plus a fresh vegetable generally has more vitamin content. It can be hard to fold raw beets into a batter, so cooking or buying them canned or jarred and already cooked will make for a much better baked result.

Fresh beets can have a fibrous texture, similar to that of other root vegetables like potatoes, and baking them will make them soft, but it also can lead to some drying. Recipes vary, but often steps include boiling fresh beets in a small amount of water to soften them and keep them moist inside. A common next step is to remove the skins and puree the beets, and picturing the difference between mashing or pureeing a baked versus a boiled potato, it may make sense to use the boiling technique for more fluffiness.

Amounts of chocolate to use in a beet chocolate cake vary a lot depending on what recipe is followed. Depending on whether dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate bars, or cocoa powder are used for the mix, the color of the beets may show through in a bright raspberry shade or a barely there tinge of burgundy or not at all. A red velvet cake gets its name from having a dark red-brown color, but it typically includes some type of food coloring. A beet chocolate cake has a similar color if less dark and dense chocolates are used, minus the artificial coloring.

When done right using a tried and true or highly-rated recipe, beet chocolate cake is a new variation on an old dessert standard. According to some cooks, it may be even better because beets can add moisture and color. Getting to the root of whether its vitamin content and natural sugars are good for the body, however, probably depends most on how much you eat.