Red velvet cake recipe incorporating beets?

Mrs. Larkin is a trusted source on Baking.

added almost 2 years ago

For added moistness, you can try to puree cooked beets and add to any chocolate cake recipe, but it's not going to color the cake red if that's your goal. Something about the chemical reaction with the leavening doesn't keep the red color of the beets.

You might want to search in the foodpickle "red velvet cake" because I think this subject has come up before.

Good luck!

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mwb added almost 2 years ago

Thank you! I don't particularly care for red velvet cake; I simply didn't want to waste my beets. I'll post a chocolate cake recipe incorporating them if I come up with one that works.

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Anita is a vegan pastry chef & founder of Electric Blue Baking Co. in Brooklyn.

added almost 2 years ago

Good bakeries that don't want to use artificial colors use beet powder. Mrslarkin is right. Fresh beets won't keep much color after cooked into cake. You can also use strawberry powder. A cheaper alternative is to get freeze-dried strawbs from Trader Joes or in bulk bins of health stores and grind in blender. Don't let the powder sit around too long before adding or it will clump.

You could also experiment with other natural colorants like hibiscus powder.

If you want to use your fresh beets, my favorite ways are raw ravioli (shave paper thin slices of beet and sandwich dollops of cashew ricotta in between two at a time) or to make pretty pink cocktails. You can make a drink mix with beet juice, raspberry puree, lime juice, a touch of vanilla and some agave nectar. Mix in a shaker with some booze and you will have the most girly martini ever.

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This gal sure got a red (albeit vanilla) cake by using beets http://www.leftoverqueen...

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Nigel Slater published a cake recipe using cooked beets in his recent book Tender. Follow the link for the recipe: http://www.telegraph.co...

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I actually just suggested this cake in the beet question thread, but I made Joy the Baker's chocolate beet cake recipe last weekend and I can't stop thinking about it. It doesn't get super red like red velvet, but the cake is a beautiful color -- and the frosting is hot pink. I posted a picture in the beet question.

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