Chocolate Beet Pudding Cake

5 from 1 ratings

Beets are a contradiction. When pulled out of the ground, they look like unappetizing, dirty round lumps. But when you cut one open, the intense purple-red color is almost shockingly beautiful. Beets are very healthy and highly versatile; you can eat them in soups and salads, roasted, sautéed, and fried... you can even use them in a cake! I used roasted beets for this recipe, and the result was a moist, reddish-brown cake that has a pudding-like texture when served warm. If you cannot wrap your mind around the notion of eating beets in a cake, feel free to substitute applesauce for a tamer, if less thrilling, snack cake. — Lea Hendry Valle, Sweet Paleo.

Servings

servings

Ingredients

½ cup coconut flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine finely ground sea salt
10 large, moist medjool dates, pitted
¾ cup apple juice
¾ cup chopped roasted beet (about 1 large beet, roasted until very soft)
4 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup liquefied coconut oil, ghee, or unsalted pastured butter, melted
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup strong brewed coffee

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch round cake pan with coconut oil and line with parchment paper.
Sift the coconut flour and cocoa powder together with the baking soda and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
Place the dates in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Slowly add the apple juice to moisten the mixture.
Add the beets and continue to pulse until puréed and combined with the dates. Process until the beet purée is completely smooth.
Transfer the beet purée to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, and coffee and mix on medium-low speed, using the whisk attachment, until well combined.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until you have a smooth batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it with the back of a spatula.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes (depending on pan size).