I had glorious plans for this month’s #BundtBakers “Secret Garden” themed cake recipe hosted by Sue from A Palatable Pastime. God pretty much threw his head back roaring with laughter at those plans. Welcome to life. The goal was to bake a Bundt using edible flowers, herbs, or garden vegetables, and my original plan was to make a Bundt variation of this Tomato Juice Spice Cake, but by now you realize that didn’t happen. It seems God had other plans. Instead of copious amounts of fantastically juicy ripe red tomatoes in our summer vegetable garden, God blessed us with an overabundance of onions, green beans, zucchini, basil, & beets. No ripe tomatoes equals no spice cake made with tomato juice as a “secret” ingredient. After all, buying the vegetables, or in this case, tomato juice, from a market would pretty much be cheating.
At first, I had decided to make some sort of buttermilk cake laden with fresh garden basil and sun-dried tomatoes. Then, while discussing the cake with my neighbor Amelia, she mentioned a chocolate beet cake that she had once had that she described as being quite” lovely.” Amelia uses the word “lovely” a lot. I like it. It’s a good word to say, and it’s a great way to describe this cake. Now for all y’all beet haters out there, you need to step back and get over it. This cake is really just a plain ol’ chocolate cake; the beets simply help to keep the cake moist, while making it a little sweeter. Oh, and they also give the cake a little bit of color at first, but that really goes away during the baking process, so I’m not sure if that’s even worth mentioning. Simply put, this is chocolate cake at its loveliest.
First Year of Fabulous Bundts
July – Pineapple Sundae Bundt Cake
August – Irish Butter Chocolate Sprinkle Cake with Ganache
September – Salted Marshmallow and Graham Crack S’more Bundt Cake
October – Mexican Hot Chocolate Rose Cake
November – Autumn Spiced Pumpkin Hot Chocolate Bundt Cake
December – Super Naughty Chocolate Whiskey Bacon Jam Bundt Cake
January – Junk Food Bundt Cake
February – Cinnamon Apple Jelly Donut Cake
March – Golden Tropical Coconut Bundt Cake
April – Inside-Out Ho Hos Lava Bundt Cake
May – Honey Almond, Apricot and Cream Cheese Filled Breakfast Cake
June – Southern Honey Drenched Jalapeño Cornbread
This just happens to be my #BundtBakers one-year anniversary. Hooray. Cue the confetti, balloons, and celebratory party music. My personal favorite cake recipes were the ones for Pineapple Sundae Bundt Cake and Southern Honey Drenched Jalapeño Cornbread. Remember, I hate icing, which might have something to do with these being my faves. I’m most proud of the Salted Marshmallow and Graham Crack S’more Bundt Cake and the Golden Tropical Coconut Bundt Cake. They were absolutely stunning cakes, and they also tasted quite lovely. To celebrate today along with me, I suggest you eat cake. Make it a Bundt cake of course, and if you need a few recipe ideas, I think I’ve got you covered.
Ingredients:
Cake:
- Garden Fresh Beets (Enough to Make 1/2 Cup of Puréed Beets)
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/8 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 1 (3.5-oz) Dark Chocolate Bar, Finely Chopped
- 3/4 Cup Water
- 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
- 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Espresso Powder
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Cocoa
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Cream Cheese Drizzle:
- 4-oz. Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 1 1/3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Whole Milk
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Directions:
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil; set aside.
- Wash, peel, and dice the beets into evenly sized small chunks. Using your hands, mix the beets, olive oil, balsamic, and salt on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, and then bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Allow the beets to cool slightly before puréeing in a food processor.
- Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Grease a Bundt pan with 1-tablespoon of unsalted butter; set aside.
- Over medium heat, combine the chopped chocolate, water, 1/4-cup butter, 1/4-teaspoon sea salt, and espresso in a medium saucepan. Cook the mixture just until everything comes together smoothly; set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, and baking soda. Whisk in the eggs, sour cream, 1/2-cup puréed beets, and vanilla. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture just until everything comes together.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife or cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool on a baking rack for 20 minutes.
- Remove cake from pan, and then allow it to cool completely on a baking rack before decorating.
Cream Cheese Drizzle:
- Mix the cream cheese and butter together with a silicone spatula.
- Sift the powdered sugar into the cream cheese and butter mixture.
- Add the milk and vanilla and then mix until well combined.
- Microwave for 30 seconds and mix until smooth.
- Drizzle over cooled cake.
Suggestions:
- The number of beets you use will vary depending on their size. I had several very small garden beets and used approximately 15. If you purchase or grow larger beets it will take considerably less. Cooking more beets than needed is recommended. They make a great snack.
- Store the cake in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out.
- Refrigerate cake until 1 hour before serving.
- If you prefer your cream cheese drizzle to be white instead of beige, make sure to use clear vanilla extract. I prefer taste over color and therefore opt for beige drizzle instead.
Improvements:
- Add chopped chocolate or nuts to the cake batter.
- Decorate this cake with gum paste flowers or chocolate curls.
Ingredients:
- Garden Fresh Beets (Enough to Make 1/2 Cup of Puréed Beets)
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/8 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 1 (3.5-oz) Dark Chocolate Bar, Finely Chopped
- 3/4 Cup Water
- 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
- 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Espresso Powder
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Cocoa
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 4-oz. Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 1 1/3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Whole Milk
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil; set aside.
- Wash, peel, and dice the beets into evenly sized small chunks. Using your hands, mix the beets, olive oil, balsamic, and salt on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, and then bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Allow the beets to cool slightly before puréeing in a food processor.
- Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Grease a Bundt pan with 1-tablespoon of unsalted butter; set aside.
- Over medium heat, combine the chopped chocolate, water, 1/4-cup butter, 1/4-teaspoon sea salt, and espresso in a medium saucepan. Cook the mixture just until everything comes together smoothly; set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, and baking soda. Whisk in the eggs, sour cream, 1/2-cup puréed beets, and vanilla. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture just until everything comes together.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife or cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool on a baking rack for 20 minutes.
- Remove cake from pan, and then allow it to cool completely on a baking rack before decorating.
- Mix the cream cheese and butter together with a silicone spatula.
- Sift the powdered sugar into the cream cheese and butter mixture.
- Add the milk and vanilla and then mix until well combined.
- Microwave for 30 seconds and mix until smooth.
- Drizzle over cooled cake.
Don’t let this recipe slip away. How often do you find a recipe intriguing, yet forget where to find it when you finally get the hankering to make it? Instead of digging through old posts or wandering aimlessly around on the internet, why not Pin this recipe to Pinterest where you can find it when you eventually need it? Simply Pin the image above and you’ll have it when that time comes. You can follow us HERE on Pinterest or simply click HERE to find all of our pin-worthy recipes.
#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.
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- Lavender Lemonade Bundt by All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
- Lemon and Rosewater Cake by Palatable Pastime
- Lemon Balm Bundt Cake by Magnolia Days
- Lemon Zucchini Bundt with Sugared Pansies by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Mojito Bundt Cakes by Sew You Think You Can Cook
- Roses & Lemon Bundt Cake by kidsandchic
- Spiced Zucchini Bundt Cake by Making Miracles
- Sweet Chocolate Feel the Beet Cake by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Vanilla Rose Bundt with Edible Flowers by Our Good Life
- Yorkshire Parkin Mini Bundt by Food Lust People Love
- Zucchini, Cheddar and Chive Bundt by Cookaholic Wife
