We love chocolate. And cake...and when you combine the two: whoa. But I don't like the thought of feeding the kids things that have no nutritional value. Their tummies are so small, and they need so many vitamins and minerals to make sure that they develop to the best of their ability. Giving them empty calorie sweets just isn't a good idea. So, when I heard that there was on old recipe for "Beet Cake" available from a friend at our veggie co-op a few years ago, I knew I needed to look into it a bit deeper. Since then, I've tweaked the recipe a bit to contain not only beets but fresh whole grains, coconut oil, and molasses. It's heavenly, high in fiber and high in iron (but when you eat iron in a food form, you don't have to worry about overdose like with vitamin pills). I'm sure there are a great many antioxidants in this cake as well, from the dark cocoa, beets, and molasses. Sadly, I still use a bit of white sugar, but if I don't I can't quite pass it off as tasty. At least it's less than originally called for.
Chocolate Beet Cake
In a blender puree/mix:
2 Cups peeled, boiled beets. (it's actually easier to boil BEFORE peeling).
3 eggs
1 C coconut oil
1 C sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
2 tbsp vanilla
In a large bowl, whisk together:
1 C cocoa
2 C freshly milled whole wheat flour, or spelt flour
2 tsp. baking soda
Combine the two mixtures and mix well. Bake in a 9x13 pan (greased) for about 40 minutes, at 375 *F.
Frost how you wish. Sometimes we just dust with powdered sugar, sometimes we use a creamcheese frosting (shown), other times a chocolate frosting. It's good all ways. My family CAN taste the beets, so it might not hide them from someone who outright hates the taste of beets. I've found, though, that most kids don't hate them because of their flavor, but the thought of eating this dark, scary veggie. My kids grow them, so it's not too scary to them, and they like them plain. I suppose if you didn't tell the person that the beets were there, they would only notice it tastes a little different than regular chocolate cake.
