We used to regularly go out for breakfast on Sunday mornings, but since we adopted Leo, our rescue pup, I’ve been making our bacon and eggs at home. After breakfast and clean up I enjoy watching a couple of shows on the food network…Mary Makes it Easy, The Kitchen, and, most recently, Girl Meets Farm with Molly Yeh. Molly lives on a farm on the North Dakota-Minnesota border, and is a Juilliard music major turned food blogger. Her blog became very popular, and Saveur named her Food Blogger of the Year in 2015. This is a recipe from a recent episode of Girl Meets Farm that sounded very interesting, and I had to try it. We have a group of friends that we regularly get together with on Saturday nights, and we were celebrating three birthdays. It was a perfect time to try Molly’s Chocolate Beet Cake recipe. When I served it I left out the part about the beets because we have anti-veg folks as well as people who just plain old don’t like beets. I have made a chocolate sauerkraut cake and a chocolate zucchini cake before, but using beets never occurred to me. Save for a couple of slices the cake was devoured. Chocolate meets beets for a delicious smash up! Full credit for this recipe goes to Molly Yeh! Thank you for sharing your food Molly.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup (100 grams) Dutch process cocoa powder

1 cup boiling water

8 oz beets (1 1/2 cups) raw, peeled, and coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups heavy cream at room temperature

3/4 cup full-fat sour cream at room temperature

4 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups (390 grams) all purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1 tsp instant espresso powder

1 3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil, soft but not melted

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar

zest of one orange

4 large eggs at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 350° and grease three 8” round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. In a high-speed blender whiz together the cocoa powder and boiling water. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes to bloom the cocoa and allow the mixture to cool a bit.

Add the beets and blend to a smooth purée.

Add the heavy cream, sour cream, and vanilla and blend until just combined. Do not over blend.

In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour and baking powder and lightly stir in the espresso powder and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer cream together the butter, coconut oil, sugar, and orange zest on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Reduce the speed to low and add the dry mixture and heavy cream mixture in 2 or 3 alternating additions, mixing until mostly combined. Turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to finish up the mixing, making sure to evenly mix without over mixing.

Distribute the batter among the 3 pans, spreading it out evenly with the bottom of a spoon or offset spatula.

Bake until the centers are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Begin checking for doneness at 40 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes in the pans, then loosen the edges with a butter knife, and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. If necessary level the tops of the cakes with a serrated knife. Once the cakes have cooled you’re ready to ice and assemble.

I used my standard cream cheese icing. Molly Yeh used a similar icing as well. If you prefer chocolate on chocolate that would be great too. Slice and enjoy.

NOTE: A great way to get vegetables into your kids, and even into non-veg adults.

I used melting chocolate and a piping bag to write the celebrants names, Patti, Chuck, and Chellie. I piped the names onto wax paper and kept them in the freezer until I was ready to serve the cake.