Recipes

Chocolate Cake with Beet Buttercream Frosting

February 06, 2017

What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than with a homemade dessert? With pink frosting! The chocolate cake is a classic, and our Beet Powder provides a natural food coloring so you can avoid the synthetic stuff in the bottle. And no, it doesn't make the frosting taste like beets. Although it's fun to let people know your secret ingredient!

Recipe adapted from Food52

For the cake:

2 cups sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter and 1 cup of water. Stir occasionally until all of the ingredients are melted and blended. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vinegar. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans or line them with parchment and then grease and flour them.

When the chocolate in the pan has cooled, whisk in the milk mixture and eggs. In several additions and without over-mixing, whisk in the dry ingredients. When the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla and whisk once or twice, to blend.

Pour the batter into the pans and bake on the middle rack until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the cakes cool completely, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

For the Frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1-3 tablespoons milk
1-2 tablespoons Beet Powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Using a spoon or an electric mixer on low speed, mix the powdered sugar and butter until combined. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk. Add more milk, bit by bit, until the frosting is spreadable.

Add 1 tablespoon Beet Powder and stir. Add more if a darker pink color is desired. If the frosting gets too thick, add a few drops more milk.

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