Einkorn Chocolate Beet Cake

My family loves to celebrate. My dad was the king of special occasions, and my mom was the queen of special occasion food. I can’t imagine a celebration without it. For every occasion, something delicious wrapped it all up. My mom’s cinnamon rolls and chips and salsa were legendary. Each child in our large family had their special dessert they would always request on their birthdays – sheet cakes, jello cakes, ice cream cakes, carrot cakes, apple cakes, pumpkin cakes, plain old white cakes…

But never chocolate cakes.

My parents didn’t eat chocolate. They didn’t tell us we couldn’t, but who wants to ask mom to bake a cake she can’t eat?

So, though my childhood was anything but deprived, it was a little low on chocolate cakes.  Now, I feel like it’s only right that I make up for lost time when it comes to this dessert classic.

And while we’re at it, let’s make it a healthy chocolate cake!

At Grand Teton Ancient Grains, we are passionate about good food. Our definition of “good” must include stellar taste, but we are also very choosy about the ingredients we use. So, we try our best to create healthy recipes without compromising taste. We feel we’ve definitely done that with this one. First and foremost, it’s made with 100% Organic All-Purpose Einkorn Flour, which is great for our bodies on many levels.

The secret ingredient in this cake makes it basically a salad.

Ok, maybe not, but we have a hunch no one eating it would ever guess that one of its main ingredients is a vegetable! And what is that vegetable you may ask? Just kidding, it’s right there in the title.

Beets!

Steamed beets add very few calories but a whole heap of nutrients to this amazing dessert, including fiber and essential vitamins and minerals.

Chocolate beet cake is a favorite over here and is frequently a birthday request. Even those in our family who can’t stand beets in general love this cake. It’s a great way to sneak kids some extra vegetables. Wink wink.

You want the beets to be steamed until they are very soft. You can steam them yourself or you can use canned beets. If you’re steaming raw beets yourself, 2 medium to large beets whould be sufficient. It doesn’t need to be exact.  The beets contribute to a moist texture and add a rich color to the cake.

You will thoroughly blend the beets with the sugar and wet ingredients until you get a very smooth, beautiful base to add your dry ingredients to. Make sure you blend it well enough that there are no chunks of beets in the mixture. Mix the dry and wet ingredients well, and it’s ready to go!

You may look at this recipe and wonder why, if we’re trying to be healthy, it calls for regular white sugar. We try to streamline our recipes as much as possible. We don’t want readers to get frustrated by having to figure out where to find uncommon ingredients they don’t have. That being said, we make all kinds of substutions when we bake. This cake is very forgiving and versatile. You can make it as healthy as you want and still have a great end product. Vegan? Substitute flax eggs for the eggs. Not a fan of white sugar? It lends itself wonderfully to sucanat or coconut sugar which is what we usually do. We usually make it with whole grain einkorn flour, but all-purpose would work wonderfully as well. Make it your own!

And as the finishing touch, einkorn chocolate beet cake pairs well with many toppings. We’ve done it with caramel sauce, raspberry buttercream, cream cheese frosting, and the pictured chocolate buttercream. It can be dressed up or down. You can throw it in a 9X13 and feed a small army or tier it and make it fancy. It’s a hit every single time.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Einkorn Chocolate Beet Cake

This is a delicious chocolate cake with a beautiful texture, and your guests will never guess the secret ingredient!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Author: Julie Koyle

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can whole steamed beets 2 medium to large beets if steaming them yourself
• 1 1/2 cup sugar Can substitute sucanat or coconut sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup cocoa or cacao powder
• 2 cup Organic All-Purpose Einkorn Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

• 1 cup butter softened
• 3-3 1/2 cup confectioners sugar can powder sucanat in a blender for this
• 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup cocoa or cacao powder
• 2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350
• Blend beets, eggs, sugar, coconut oil, applesauce and vanilla in a blender.
• In a bowl, mix cacao, Organic All-Purpose Einkorn Flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Mix wet and dry ingredients until well mixed.
• Pour into greased 9×13 pan.
• Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

• Mix all frosting ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth.
• Frost cake when cooled.

Notes

 

 

 

Please let us know how your Einkorn Chocolate Beet Cake turned out and share your feedback with us in the comments below.

If you love this recipe then you might also want to try these other recipes:

• Einkorn Almond Pear Cake from Savor the Best
• Organic Whole Grain Einkorn Coffee Cake
• Einkorn Naturally Leavened Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Remember to share your Ancient Grains creations with us on social media using the hashtag #AncientGrainsRecipes and #GrandTetonAncientGrains. We can’t wait to see your culinary eye candy as you capture and share the beauty of your nutritious creations.