I was watching a baking competition show on cable recently and one of the expert judges was horrified as one of the contestants made a chocolate cake with beets. I marveled at this professional’s lack of knowledge and his shocked reaction to the fact that the finished cake was good. “I can’t even taste the beets,” he smugly declared. Well, unlike that contestant’s cake, you can really taste the beets in this incredibly moist and flavorful cake. If you want your cake to be a bit less “beety” then reduce the beets by 1/4 cup and increase the oil to 1/3 cup.

Serves 10

3/4 cup freshly pureed beets (about 1.5 beets)

1/4 cup canola oil

9.6 oz sugar (roughly 1 1/4 cup)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

7.5 oz flour (roughly 1 1/4 cup)

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp extra dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup almond milk

1 Tbsp vinegar

1/2 cup vegan cream cheese

1 cup shortening

1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 tsp lemon juice

If you don’t already have pureed, roasted beets lying around, you’ll need to make these first. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Cut the tops and bottoms off of the beets and then put them in a baking dish with about 1/2 inch of water. Cover the baking dish with foil and then roast the beets for about 40-45 minutes until they are tender.

Once they are done, drain them in a colander and run cold water over them to cool them a bit so you can handle them. Rub the beets with your fingers under the cold water to remove the skins. Puree the beets in a blender or food processor.

Now that you have your pureed beets you can start on your cake adventure.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 8” cake tins with parchment paper. (This will prevent the greatest heartache in baking… not being able to get your cakes out of the pan.)

In a large bowl, add your beets, sugar, vanilla and oil and mix to combine with a spoon.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda and whisk to combine.

Measure out the almond milk and set aside.

Now combine these three elements by alternately adding the flour mixture and the milk as you blend them with the beet mixture. Mix until smooth and then add the vinegar and carefully fold it in until you see light streaks in the batter.

Evenly divide the batter in the prepared cake pans and bake in the center rack of your oven for 25 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. If it doesn’t then bake for a minute more and test again.

Remove the cakes from the pans and allow them to cool completely on cooling racks.

While the cakes are cooling, prepare the frosting by adding the vegan cream cheese (I usually use Tofutti’s), shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon juice to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Start the machine out on low so that sugar doesn’t cover your counter looking like you just had some sort of cocaine fueled party in your kitchen. Blend the frosting until it’s smooth and creamy. This frosting isn’t overly sweet so feel free to adjust if you’d like a bit more sweetness.

Frost your cake and then dive in!

Nutritional Information: Per slice 499 Calories, 2.5 g protein, 27.25 g fat