Chocolate Beetroot Cake
A dark, fudgy chocolate cake made with cooked beetroot, which keeps the crumb soft and moist.
Photograph credit: Chocolate Beetroot Cake by The Integer Club · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Beetroot is the hidden ingredient here, and nobody tastes it. What it does is add moisture and a faint earthy sweetness that deepens the chocolate.
Use cooked beetroot from a vacuum pack, not pickled, which would make the cake sour. Blend it to a smooth puree with a splash of water, so that no flecks remain. Dry the puree slightly on kitchen paper if it looks very wet. A watery puree makes a heavy cake.
Melt the butter and chocolate together and let it cool for 10 minutes before the eggs go in. Beat in the sugar, eggs and beetroot, then fold in the flour and cocoa gently. The batter will be a dark, glossy brown.
Bake at 170°C / 340°F for 45 minutes. If your oven runs hot, check at 36 minutes. A skewer should come out with a few moist crumbs. Cool in the tin and dust with icing sugar, or top with a simple chocolate ganache.
How to Make Chocolate Beetroot Cake
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Heat the oven to 170°C / 340°F and line a 23 cm round tin. Melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat and cool for 10 minutes.
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Beat in the sugar and eggs, then stir in the beetroot puree.
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Fold in the flour and cocoa until just combined. Pour into the tin.
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Bake for 45 minutes until a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool in the tin and dust with the icing sugar.
Related guide: Pan and tin size.
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Worth Getting Right
- Use cooked beetroot, not pickled.
- Blend the puree smooth.
- If your oven runs hot, check at 36 minutes.
- Cool before cutting.
Swaps and Variations
- No self-raising flour to hand? The common home substitute is the same weight of plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder for every 150 g, sifted together well; the rise may not be identical to a bought self-raising flour.
What to Serve With It
Whipped cream · Raspberries · Hot coffee · Vanilla ice cream
Leftovers and Storage
Keeps in an airtight tin for 4 days.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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