• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

My Recipe Reviews

Recipe Reviews, Recommendations, Tips and Musings. Thanks for visiting!

  • Home
  • Recipe Index
    • All Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Bars
    • Beef
    • Breads/Muffins
    • Breakfast
    • Cakes
    • Candy
    • Casseroles
    • Chicken/Poultry
    • Cookies
    • Cooking for Two
    • Fruit
    • Holiday Recipes
    • Ice Cream/Sorbets
    • Lighter Recipes
    • Pasta
    • Pies/Pastry/Puddings
    • Pork
    • Seafood
    • Snacks
    • Soups, Stews, and Salads
    • Throw and Go! (Crockpot Recipes)
    • Vegetables/Side Dishes
  • Recipes Without Pictures
  • What’s Hot/What’s Not
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy/Contact

beets

Beet and Ginger Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

September 27, 2018 by sblades 3 Comments

Since beets are in season now, this Beet and Ginger Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting seems like the perfect Fall cake to make.

Beet and Ginger Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

It’s beautiful weather here today in North Texas – a coolness that lets us know Fall is around the corner. Cooler weather really gets me in the mood to cook and bake. 

If you know me, you know I don’t like beets. Beets and banana bread, but banana bread’s a story for another post. I recently made Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes, though, and found out if you disguise the beets well enough that they can be a good thing!

This Beet and Ginger Cake is adapted from the famous baker and cook, David Lebovitz, and looks so interesting that I just had to make it.

Beet and Ginger Cake

There’s a lot of good stuff in this cake – candied ginger, beets, orange zest, sour cream, and walnuts. It sounds like Fall, doesn’t it?

The flavors blend beautifully and make an earthy, tender, great-textured cake that’s frosted with a creamy cream cheese frosting.

I halved Mr. Lebovitz’s recipe and added raisins because I thought it needed them, and it made three nice little mini-loaves.

Beet and Ginger Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I love this cake! The beets really give it a unique flavor (and not beet-y) and you get a little bit of candied ginger and walnuts in every bite. Both of David Lebovitz’s recipes I’ve tried (this one and Chocolate Yeast Bread) have been just great.

This cake is really fairly easy to stir together. Peeling and grating the beets is faster and easier than you’d think. Just be sure and wear plastic gloves when you’re handling the beets or you’ll have semi-permanent red fingers.

If you’re trying to get the wee ones to try a new vegetable, try this delicious cake!

Beet and Ginger Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Beet and Ginger Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: 3 - 4

Along with the earthy flavor of beets, you get a bit candied ginger and walnuts in every bite.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 C (50 g) finely chopped candied ginger
  • 1/2 C plus 1/3 C (100 g) all-purpose flour
  • 3/8 C (75 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 4.5 oz (130 g) grated fresh, raw peeled beets
  • grated zest of one medium orange
  • 1/3 C (37.5 g) toasted, chopped walnuts
  • 2 1/2 tbsp raisins
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1/8 C (30 g) sour cream
  • 1/4 C canola oil
  • Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 3 oz. (85 g) cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1/3 C powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1-2 tbsp heavy cream (or milk)
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Spray and flour three (or four, depending on size of yours) mini-loaf pans.  Put the ginger in a small bowl and cover with about 1/2 cup of boiling water.  Set aside for about 15 minutes, then pour out the water and gently squeeze out the water.  Pat dry.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add the grated beets, orange zest, walnuts, candied ginger, and raisins to the bowl, but don't stir them in yet.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and oil together, then pour the liquids over the dry ingredients.  Stir the ingredients together, just until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
  4. Spoon the batter evenly into the mini-loaf pans until about 1/4" from the rim.  If you have more batter, use a couple more mini-loaf pans.  Use the back of a spoon to even the tops.
  5. Bake the loaves for 25-35 minutes, checking at 25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Place the pans on a rack and let cool for about 15 minutes.  Run a butter knife around the edges and turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
  6. For the cream cheese frosting:  Beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth.  Beat in the powdered sugar until it's completely combined, then add one tablespoon of the heavy cream and the vanilla.  Beat for about 1 minute until thickened and creamy.  Add additional cream/milk if needed.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Really...use gloves when grating the beets.

My mini-loaf pans were a little larger than standard, so you may need to use four mini-loaf pans.  

Make sure the loaves are completely cooled before frosting or the frosting will slide right off!

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 mini-loaf
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 563Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 422mgCarbohydrates: 71gFiber: 2gSugar: 56gProtein: 9g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© David Lebovitz
Category: Cakes

Filed Under: All Recipes, Cakes Tagged With: beet and ginger cake, beets, candied ginger, cream cheese frosting, David Lebovitz, Fall cakes

Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes (#thecakeslicebakers)

May 20, 2018 by sblades 10 Comments

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

I’ve never been a fan of beets, but when these Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes came up as one of the cake choices for The Cake Slice Bakers this month, I thought – why not? They’ll be sweetened, cooked, processed and blended with chocolate. How bad could that be?

Plus, I can eat cupcakes and tell myself they’re healthy.

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

Beets are a very good source of manganese, potassium and copper. They’re are also a good source of dietary fiber, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C, iron and vitamin B6. Wow, what a miracle vegetable! Doesn’t change the fact that I always thought they taste like dirt and, when cooked, have a strange texture.

These Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes may have changed my mind. The beets blend in nicely with the chocolate and other cupcake ingredients (including whole wheat flour) without losing the essence of the beet flavor. What a good way to get your vegetables in!

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

The cupcakes are soft, but have a little texture from the beets and whole wheat flour and although the ATK cream cheese frosting recipe goes well with it, I think I’d prefer a thicker, sweeter vanilla buttercream frosting on top.

Don’t get me wrong – their cream cheese frosting is delectable and I’d slather it on a carrot cake all day long. Bret grabbed a spoon so he could clean out the frosting bowl for me. He’s such a big help.

America’s Test Kitchen’s (#atkcake) take on the Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes in their introduction to the recipe was that they are “something similar to a red velvet cupcake minus the dye and plus intense chocolate flavor and a delicate earthiness.”

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

Be sure and wear your latex gloves when cutting and processing the beets. That juice gets everywhere. And it’s very, very red!

Oh, and if you don’t want to mess with trimming, peeling, quartering, processing, and microwaving fresh beets, just used canned. I, unfortunately, thought of that too late. Duh!

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes

Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Total Time: 42 minutes

Good cupcakes with a great frosting. Earthy and chocolatey.

Ingredients

  • 12 oz beets, trimmed, peeled, and quartered ** (see notes)
  • 2 oz dark chocolate (70%)
  • 1/2 C (1 1/2 oz) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1/3 C vegetable oil
  • 3/4 C (5 1/4 oz) sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 C (4 1/8 oz) whole-wheat flour
  • Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 1 1/4 lb cream cheese, softened
  • 12 tbsp butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened
  • 2 tbsp sour cream
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 C (10 oz) powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup cupcake tin with liners.
  2. Use a food processor fitted with a shredding disk to process beets until all are shredded. Transfer the beets to a bowl and microwave, covered, until beets are tender and have released their juices, about 4 minutes. Stir halfway through microwaving.
  3. Fit the food processor with a chopping blade and pour the beets back into the processor bowl.
  4. In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, microwave the dark chocolate at about 50 percent power, stirring until melted (in 30 second bursts, stirring between times). Whisk the cocoa and oil into the melted chocolate until smooth, then pour the chocolate mixture into the food processor with the beats. Let cool slightly. (Or just used canned beets)
  5. Process the beets and chocolate mixture until smooth, about 45 seconds, scraping down the bowl if needed. Add the sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, baking soda, and salt and process until the sugar is mostly dissolved and the mixture is completely well-blended, 15 to 30 seconds. Add the flour and pulse until just incorporated (don't over mix), about 5 pulses.
  6. Divide the batter evenly among the liners in the muffin pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, 20 to 22 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
  7. Let the cupcakes cool in the muffin tin for about 15 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack and let them cool completely. Spread with frosting when cool.
  8. To make the frosting: Using a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-slow and slowly add the sugar. Beat until completely incorporated and smooth, about 3 minutes.
  9. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Spread generously onto cooled cupcakes.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

**Duh...I figured out using canned beets would be tons easier and you could skip the chopping and microwaving part (thus, eliminating red fingers, red cabinets, red ceiling, red dog).

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 cupcake
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 420Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 483mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 6g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© America's Test Kitchen
Category: Cakes

Filed Under: All Recipes, Cakes Tagged With: America's Test Kitchen, beet cupcakes, beets, chocolate beet cupcakes, The Perfect Cake

Primary Sidebar

Follow Me!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon

Welcome!  I’m Susan and I love finding wonderful new recipes.  I hope you’ll find a few new ones here that you and your family will love. Browse around and stay a while!Save

Save

Can’t Find What You’re Looking for?

Most Popular Posts

  • Soft Cinnamon Roll Cookies
  • Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Tea Cake Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Tea Cake (The Cake Slice Bakers)
  • Creamy Great Northern Beans with Ham
  • Light Chicken Parmesan Crock-Pot Chicken Parmesan (A Lighter Version of the Classic)
  • Hamburger Cauliflower Soup Hearty Hamburger Cauliflower Soup
Get new recipes by email:
Powered by follow.it
my foodgawker gallery
Copyright © 2022 · Design by Deluxe Designs