Chocolate-Beet Cake
Chef Alex Lee of Daniel taught me his way of starting to create recipes: taking an ingredient and then making a list of all the other flavors or ingredients that go well with it. He also prompted me to start thinking about the possibilities of pairing vegetables with sweets. In this dessert, I match the earthiness of chocolate with the earthiness of beets. When you make the candied beets, use a mixture of red, golden, and chiogga (the candy-striped ones) for the prettiest presentation. You’ll need separate batches of Simple Syrup for each type of beet to keep the colors intact. You’ll be roasting more beets than you need for the cake. Use the extra puree to make Raspberry-Beet Sauce.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
For the Candied Beets
For the Cake
To Serve
Preparation
For the Candied Beets
Step 1
Peel the beets and slice them about 1/8 inch thick. A vegetable slicer or mandoline works well for this.
Step 2
Bring the simple syrup to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the beets and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer the beets gently until they’re translucent, about 1 hour. Keep the heat low, so the beets don’t curl as you cook them. Let cool completely in the syrup.
Step 3
Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment.
Step 4
Drain the beets gently, so they don’t break, and dredge them in sugar. Arrange on the baking sheet and place in a cold oven overnight to dry.
Step 5
Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
For the Cake
Step 6
Heat the oven to 425°F or 400°F on convection.
Step 7
Trim the tops from the beets, leaving about 1 inch of the stems. Tear off a large piece of aluminum foil and make a bed of coarse salt in the center. Set the beets on the salt, wrap the foil to make a tight package, and roast the beets until very tender, about 1 hour.
Step 8
Let the beets cool. Peel them and cut them into chunks. Put them in a food processor and process to a very fine puree. Strain and measure out 1/2 cup. Reserve the rest for the sauce.
Step 9
Heat the oven to 350°F or 325°F on convection. Butter and sugar a 9-inch square baking pan.
Step 10
Melt the chocolate in the microwave, in 30-second bursts, stirring after each burst.
Step 11
Whisk the flour, baking soda, and 1/8 teaspoon salt together in a bowl.
Step 12
Put the sugar, egg, and oil in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk. Whisk for 2 minutes at medium-high speed, until pale and light. Beat in the vanilla extract, then the dry ingredients, then the chocolate, then the beet puree, mixing well after each addition.
Step 13
Scrape the batter into the pan and rap it on the counter to remove air bubbles. Bake until a knife comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes. Let cool completely before removing the cake from the pan
To Serve
Step 14
Cut the cake into cubes.
Step 15
Dip one cube in the raspberry-beet sauce, coating it completely. Pair it with a plain piece of cake on a dessert plate and garnish with a few candied beets, crumbling some of the beets if you want, and a spoonful of sauce.
make it simpler
Step 16
You could skip the candied beets if need be. As an act of desperation, you could substitute a store-bought chocolate cake for the cake here.
