A moist cake that is a good keeper. My gardening neighbor brought me this cake along with the recipe several years ago.
Very yummy cake. I subbed all the oil for a cup of applesauce, added 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 2/3c dark chocolate chips. I think the cinn masks the somewhat overpowering earthy taste of the beets. Another recommendation is to beat the eggs well for a fluffier cake.
Read MoreI really wanted this recipe to turn out well, what a great way to use up beets, not to mention their healthful benefits. But my husband and son hated them. I did care much for them either. the beet taste was very strong.
Read MoreVery yummy cake. I subbed all the oil for a cup of applesauce, added 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 2/3c dark chocolate chips. I think the cinn masks the somewhat overpowering earthy taste of the beets. Another recommendation is to beat the eggs well for a fluffier cake.
I made this for my daughter's Birthday. It's a recipe I had many years ago and lost. I had cut it from a Chatelaine magazine. I'm glad I've found it again. It's as delicious as I remembered it to be! I'm not about to lose it this time! By the way since I have to stick to a low fat diet because of surgery I made it with a 1/2 c. of oil and substituted a 1/2 c. of unsweetened applesauce for the other 1/2 c. of oil. It turned out perfect and every bit as delicious! The best part about this cake is it's always moist!
This cake is absolutely stunning. I will make this anytime I need a choc cake or cupcakes. So unbelievably moist! Absolutely no hint of beet. I took other reviewers' advice and pureed the beets. I actually pureed the beets in the blender along with the eggs and oil - the result was intensely pink, smooth and creamy. I then poured that out into a bowl and followed the recipe as stated from there. I pretty much followed the recipe to the letter, except I used olive oil instead of reg veg oil, and the result was fabulous. I made cupcakes and baked at the stated temp for about 18 minutes. Thanks! A gorgeous recipe! **Update** I made these a second time for my husband's birthday BBQ, and two different people told me they were the best chocolate cupcakes they had ever had! **Update #2** It's 8 years later and I'm still making this as my go-to chocolate cake! It is unbelievably delicious and always garners rave reviews. I just made it for my 3 year old son's birthday and everyone loved it. You will not regret making this recipe!
Good cake -- very yummy. You'd never know there were beets in it. I don't know if I'd make it if I didn't have a glut of beets from the garden (like now) -- it takes so long to cook the beets -- but I will make this cake again. I decreased the oil by half and replaced it with apple sauce (I do this with all my recipes) and boosted the fibre a bit by using whole wheat flour in place some of the all purpose. (I hadn't done that with cakes before, just breads and muffins, but it worked out fine.) Hopefully that will shave a few grams off the per serving fat content, while still leaving a delicious dessert.
Beets normally gross me out, but this was fantastic. I substituted 1 cup whole wheat flour and used applesauce instead of oil - the cake was perfectly moist and fluffy. I also made banana/almond butter frosting and dyed it pink with the leftover beet juice.
An absolutely simple and delicious cake. The best way to fool children into eating something nutritious.
Being a gardener myself, I enjoyed this recipe. There is something quite satisfying about using the fruits (or vegetables) of your labor in new ways. I could detect a slightly "different" taste from a regular chocolate cake, but it wasn't overwhelming. Although I wouldn't go out of my way to make this cake if I didn't have fresh beets to use, I'm sure I'll make it again next harvest. I didn't get the chance to "test" it on any kids :)
Right good. I'm not a fan of super-chocolatey desserts, but this was just chocolate enough to satisfy without being killer chocolately...my favorite! My super-picky dad enjoyed it too. I also like the fact that it's dairy-free. I dusted the finished product with a mixture of cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Perfect! And it kept well over the week. Thanks!
Best chocolate cake I've made. Not too sweet though, but that makes it perfect for frosting
My husband and young daughters (all of whom hate beets) ate large pieces just now. It is an excellent recipe but I made some changes, some of which might've helped or not. I substituted applesauce for the oil which, I think made the cake more dense. I also added diary free chocolate chips which added to the chocolatey richness. Then I frosted with dark fudge frosting which made it even more rich and blends the slight beety flavor better than, say a milk chocolate. I'm not sure my husband knows there are beets in the cake. I'll tell him when it's all gone.
I really wanted this recipe to turn out well, what a great way to use up beets, not to mention their healthful benefits. But my husband and son hated them. I did care much for them either. the beet taste was very strong.
This cake was just so-so to me. It was moist and I loved the idea of using beets, but I was looking for more chocolate flavor. I paired it with a fudge frosting and that helped some, but I think next time I'll try a beet cake that uses baking chocolate. If you're looking for a nice, moist cake with mild chocolate flavor, this might be for you. If you're like me and want lots of chocolate flavor, you might want to try another recipe.
It's not, like, THE BEST chocolate cake you've ever had... but for a cake made with beets in it? It's freaking awesome. I frosted with cream cheese frosting.
Thank you for this recipe!I've been wanting to try a cake like this for a few years and I'm delighted with the results. So moist and rich, it's quelling my chocolate cravings PERFECTLY! Will def add this to my repetoire.
Ugh. I did not care for this cake. No one would eat it. Be warned that the beet taste is pretty strong. I love beets, but their earthy flavor was unpleasant in this recipe. If you do try this recipe, make sure to mash the beets really, really well. There were a few small pieces of beet in my cake that got chewy and tough after baking.
Pretty good for having beets in it. Will make again if I have beets to use but I would for sure add chocolate chips to add chocolate and hide the beet texture.
Marvelous! My dad unintentionally challenged me to hide beets in baked goods. He thought it sounded wrong. I scaled the recipe to 16 servings and made it into 12 cupcakes. I added 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, replaced the oil with applesauce and lowered the sugar a bit. I needed to puree the beets because mashing them left too many indiscrete chunks. I'm about to test them on my sister who doesn't know they have beets in them! Can't wait to fool my dad too!
I just ate a piece and YUMMMMMM! I frosted with "Best Ever Butter Cream Frosting". My family loved it.
I made this for my fiance who is a very picky eater. He loved it! He shared it with his contruction co-workers during lunch and they all loved it too. He still does not know what the secret ingredient is nor does he really want to. I made it becasue my friends brought me a lot of beet roots from their garden and I did not know what to do with them. As if beet cake was not healthy enough I also substituted half of the oil for apple sauce. This cake was very moist and delicious. I am making it again and this time will put some icing on it.
Very nice recipe. Cake was moist with a good crumb and depth of flavor that cocoa alone can't accomplish. I did sub out half the oil for unsweetened applesauce to cut down on fat. Lessons learned: I nuked whole beets minus tops in the microwave for about 18 minutes with a bit of water, then peeled them and mashed. It was the easiest way I could think of to cook the beets. However, I should have actually pureed them as I ended up with visible bits of beets in my cake... oops. Still, this was a very good cake and DH didn't mind the "weird addition" at all.
I had beets and needed to use them, so I did this. We don't like the taste of beets and you could taste it in this recipe a little. The beet taste wasn't as noticeable the next day when they had cooled completely and they were better.
My kids tasted something different here, I tried to keep it a mystery, but they insisted on knowing what in the world was in the cake.
i just love to trick my children!! i thought this cake tasted like hoho's. i use wheat germ and whole wheat flour makes a great cake-thanks!
I substituted unsweetened applesauce for the oil and omitted the salt. I also used wheat flour. It was a yummy use for my organic beets! Highly recommended! It fooled my finicky 5-yr-old & husband in thinking it was all chocolate!
My husband and I are on a lifestyle change. We are carefully watching what we eat. This cake fit in perfect with our new outlook. We both have a terrible sweet tooth, especially for chocolate, and we are able to eat this cake without all the guilt. I will for sure be making this cake again!! We could not even taste the beets in it.
I loved this recipe. I ended up having to puree the beets in a food processor to get the consistency I wanted, but it turned out great. I also made them into cupcakes, which did not change the moisture or richness of the recipe. I highly recommend! A great way to sneak beets into kiddo's.
This was suprisingly good. I didn't have enough of the beets on hand so I also added 2 carrots to my pureed beets to equal the amount required. Also folded in some chocolate chips before baking. My kids are chowing down on it every night after dinner. Hubby didn't care for it too much (said it wasn't chocolatey enough) so that's why only 4 stars. He still doesn't know what is really in it, he just thought it needed more chocolate :-).
Definitely my new go-to chocolate cake. Do not judge this cake by the taste of the batter! I used two small cans of beets (make sure they're fresh canned and not pickled!) which is a little more beets than called for. I also pureed the beets, oil and eggs in a blender as one cook advised. This made two 9" round cakes. You can't call it "healthy" cake (lots of suger!) but there are few other cake recipes that can boast a good source of folate, manganese and potassium!
Easy to make and tastes delicious. I omitted the oil and used applesauce instead. Even the kids loved it! Have made this twice and it never disappoints.
In the words of my 4 and 7 year old children--"this is the best chocolate cake EVER!" I was originally a little leery because of some comments but I decided to go ahead and try it since my hubby had asked me to make a chocolate cake with beets. I made a few adjustments like baking the beets because I love baked beets, and I also pureed the beets with the oil and eggs like someone else had suggested. It turned out wonderfully, in fact, my daughter has asked me to make this for her birthday cake in a few weeks! They don't need to know it has beets in it.
Beets & chocolate cake...who knew!!! Passed the husband and kids test without any acknowledgement of something "different." The beets do take quite a bit of time to soften, so not quite a "go-to" recipe for me (not much of a baker anyway) but definitely a away to put a healthy touch on a dessert, given a few other substitutions (e.g. applesauce for oil.).
I turned this cake into muffins. While warm, it had a slight beet flavour, but once it cooled, you could not notice it. I found it was missing something though, so I made a second batch with semi-sweet chocolate chips and it was perfect! It is my new favourite chocolate cake! I followed the suggestions of some of the other reviewers and pureed the beets with the wet ingredients. I will definitely be making this again!
I made these into muffins, more or less to the recipe (just changed the vanilla essence to vanilla infused rum). It has a nice flavour and good texture. Because of the density, one is enough (according to the hubby) to satisfy a sweet tooth, with a cup of tea/coffee.
If it sounds too good to be true.... I definitely taste the beets. But- my 4 year old and her friends ate it and thought it was a treat! So, my review is mixed- if you want to slip your children some beets - this just might work! Consistency and appearance of the cake is great, cake is moist - it is a good recipe...if you like chocolate cake with a hint of beet! I did puree the beets in a processor before mixing, and used 1/2 applesauce as other reviewers mentioned. No other changes made to the recipe. I probably won't make it again, but it was an interesting experiment with beets we had on hand!
This is really moist, not oily, not too sweet, just right. Even without frosting, it's great. I made no changes to the recipe. It did take 40 minutes to bake in a pyrex 9x13" pan, in my oven, though. I will make again, especially any time I have a lot of beets to deal with!
Yummy! Me and my 4 year old made these after we bought too many beets at the farmers market. Soooo good!
Yum! Fluffy and moist! As others have said, replace half butter with apple or banana, and cut half the sugar. You can always make up for the butter and sugar when you add frosting :) Some said that the beet flavor was too strong, I'd recommend using canned beets, not a trace of beet flavoring!
I love this cake recipe! My daughter has asked for this cake every birthday since she was 4, she also loves helping make it. I use canned beets that I then puree and applesauce replaces the oil, we also throw in a bag of mini semi sweet chocolate chips. Its so good we don't even add any icing. You won't really be able to test this cake with a toothpick, it is so moist. It is a favorite amongst my kids and my coworkers and I don't feel guilty eating this cake either.
This cake was fabulous! I was a little worried about it because of some of the negative reviews, but it turned out wonderfully and was a great way to use up some beets. Following other reviewers' advice, I added a little cinnamon and pureed the beets. The cake had a little bit of a distinctive flavor, but no one I served it to could tell it was beets and they all loved it! It was very moist and kept well for a few days. I frosted it with Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting, which was an excellent choice. All in all, a keeper recipe-thanks, Lenna!
EXCELLENT recipe! I made it like the recipe said and added a handful of chocolate chips on top before I baked it. It's not overly sweet, but my picky 4 year old (hence the beets disguised in cake) gobbled it up. I think frosting on it, glaze or even a sprinkling of powdered sugar would be great too. But since he's eating it like it is... Great recipe! UPDATE: I pureed the beets in my food processor instead of mashing so that they would blend in as much as possible.
