Chocolate Beet Cake with Beet Orange Ice Cream

A slice of chocolate beet cake with a scoop of vibrant pink beet and orange ice cream.

Chocolate Beet Cake is the original Red Velvet Cake. It’s wonderful with a side of creamy orange scented Beet Ice Cream. Note: You’ll need overnight freezing time for the ice cream.

Eating Locally and Seasonally

What to do with a 5 lb bag of beets from the farmer’s market? Roasted beet salad…check; Harvard beets…check; Beet, Red Cabbage and Potato Hash…check!

Today there were two more experiments on the board:  One Ultimate Chocolate Beet Cake courtesy of  Nigel Slater  and another ‘something’ to go with it. I thought about a sweet beet reduction or jam but then realized that I hadn’t used the ice cream maker in a long time.

Beet and Orange Ice Cream sounded like two flavours I could really get behind. It was so quirky that it might just work!

beetcake1

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Chocolate Beet Cake

It’s not much of a stretch from zucchini cake or my favourite Chocolate Carrot Cake from Alexander’s Restaurant in Saskatoon. So, it stands to reason that a cake made with beets would be oh, so sweet.

Beets in a cake may sound like a novelty but it really isn’t. Southern cooks have been using them to make red velvet cakes for decades. These vibrant vegetables are sweet and turn a great chocolate cake to a lovely red hue.

I’ve been wanting to make one for a while until one day this recipe popped up on my twitter feed. I wouldn’t necessarily use a Nigel Slater recipe (though I do love David Lebovitz and he says this recipe is tops so I’m good with that!).

This recipe has so many gosh darn steps. I felt in some parts like I was perfecting brain surgery. In the end, all the melting, sifting, and folding were worth it.

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The cake came out quite nicely, evenly crumbed and very moist with the beets lending a sweetness to the bitter chocolate I used. I just felt so darn healthy eating this cake, I didn’t feel guilty at all especially when I served it with the beet and orange ice cream.

The slight tang of citrus really went with the sweet earthiness of the beet, leaving me really happy with the flavour of the ice cream. The colour was gorgeous too, just a lovely pink which would look amazing in a bowl with this brilliant ube ice cream.

However, I felt maybe the texture was a little off, even with the added mascarpone cheese. The ice cream recipe did not begin with a true custard, but used cornstarch instead. I felt like it was a bit of a cheat. 

beetcake

If you make this Beet Cake with Beet Orange Ice Cream, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe, please tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you guys are making! Thank you so much for reading my blog.

Yield: 8

Beet Cake with Beet Orange Ice Cream

A slice of chocolate beet cake with a scoop of vibrant pink beet and orange ice cream.

Chocolate Beet Cake is the original Red Velvet Cake. It's wonderful with a side of creamy orange scented Beet Ice Cream. Note: You'll need overnight freezing time for the ice cream.

Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces fresh beets
  • 7 ounces fine dark chocolate (70%)
  • 1/4 cup hot espresso
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup superfine sugar

FOR THE ICE CREAM

  • 2 cups milk
  • 4 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1¼ cups heavy cream
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Peel of 1 orange
  • 3 Tablespoons mascarpone cheese; softened
  • ½ cup puréed roasted beets

Instructions

  1. Lightly butter an 8-inch springform cake pan and line the base with a round of baking parchment. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Cook the beets, whole and unpeeled, in boiling unsalted water. Depending on their size, they will be tender within 30 to 40 minutes. Young ones may take slightly less. Drain them, let them cool under running water, then peel them, slice off their stem and root, and process in a blender or food processor until a coarse purée.
  3. Melt the chocolate, broken into small pieces, in a small bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Don’t stir.
  4. When the chocolate looks almost melted, pour the hot espresso over it and stir once. Cut the butter into small pieces -- the smaller the better -- and add to the melted chocolate. Push the butter down under the surface of the chocolate with a spoon (as best you can) and leave to soften.
  5. Sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a large mixing bowl. Stir the yolks together.
  6. Now, working quickly but gently, remove the bowl of chocolate from the heat and stir until the butter has melted into the chocolate. Let sit for a few minutes, then stir in the egg yolks. Do this quickly, mixing firmly and evenly so the eggs blend into the mixture. Fold in the beets. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold in the sugar. Firmly but gently, fold the beaten egg whites and sugar into the chocolate mixture. A large metal spoon is what you want here; work in a deep, figure-eight movement but take care not to over-mix. Lastly, fold in the flour and cocoa.
  7. Transfer quickly to the prepared cake pan and put in the oven, decreasing the heat immediately to 325 degrees F. Bake for 40 minutes. The rim of the cake will feel spongy, the inner part should still wobble a little when gently shaken. Test with a cake tester or toothpick too -- if it is still gooey in the center, continue baking just until moist crumbs cling to the tester.
  8. Set the cake aside to cool (it will sink a tad in the center), loosening it around the edges with a thin icing spatula after half an hour or so. It is not a good idea to remove the cake from its pan until it is completely cold.


FOR THE BEET ORANGE ICE CREAM

  1. In a bowl, stir together ¼ cup milk and the cornstarch; set slurry aside.
  2. In a 4-qt. saucepan, whisk together remaining milk and the cream, sugar, syrup, and salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add orange peel.
  3. Cook for 4 minutes; stir in slurry. Return to a boil and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes.
  4. Place mascarpone cheese in a bowl and pour in ¼ cup hot milk mixture; whisk until smooth. Then whisk in remaining milk mixture; stir in beets. Leave in refrigerator overnight.
  5. Remove orange peel. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker; process according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer ice cream to a storage container and freeze until set.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 630Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 187mgSodium: 344mgCarbohydrates: 75gFiber: 3gSugar: 67gProtein: 10g

Nutritional calculation was provided by Nutritionix and is an estimation only. For special diets or medical issues please use your preferred calculator.

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11 comments

  1. Janelle

    Im not hungry at all but this has my mouth watering for some delicious chocolate and beets! I’m roasting some golden ones with carrots and cauliflower to make a curry roasted veggy soup. I do love beets!

    Reply

    1. dishnthekitchen

      mmm roasted veggie curry soup sounds great!

  2. MeaghanC

    The cake is so beautiful! Stunning photography… I want a piece right now! Love the idea of beets and chocolate.

    Reply

    1. dishnthekitchen

      Thank you Meaghan! It was a tough dish to photograph. I had all sorts of problems.

  3. Sarah | (Cooking for) Kiwi & Bean

    Stunning cake. I would really love to reach in there and grab a big hunk right now. But that would be weird, right?

    Reply

  4. holley

    Health cake is always a win at my house!

    Reply

  5. Goldenpudding

    I already love beet and chocolate cake, but what a great idea to pair with the ice cream – it’s a fabulous colour too!
    Beck

    Reply

    1. dishnthekitchen

      Yes and ‘au naturale’. No dyes at all!

  6. June Burns

    What an awesome combination! The beet orange ice cream sounds fabulous 🙂

    Reply

    1. dishnthekitchen

      Thank you. It’s very delicious…not overly ‘beety’ at all.

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