Last Friday, my husband and I had dinner with a group of folks I used to work with. One of them, in particular, is a real jokester. In the flurry of emails flying back and forth prior to our potluck dinner and in response to my email that I would bring dessert - 1 healthy experiment and 1 regular old fashioned, sugar-laden dessert - he joked that he would bring beet soup. He thought that this was real funny (he's not familiar that it can be soooo tasty!), so I thought, "I'll show him."
I had seen a recipe for a flourless chocolate cake made with beets online - One place in particular was Elana's Pantry. I made a few changes and this is what I came up with. I brought it to the potluck along with real ice cream (not for moi, but the other 5 people don't have any food restrictions), raspberry sauce (2 T fruit sweetened jam that I heated up with a couple drops of water), and fresh raspberries.
I told them they didn't need to eat the cake - they didn't know what was in it, just that it was an experiment. To my surprise, it went over quite well - everyone gobbled it up. When I revealed that it's mostly beets, they couldn't believe it. I'd say we have a winner! It's not real sweet, so the toppings made it perfect. I would say it wasn't as dense as I would like - next time, I would use unsweetened baking chocolate squares instead of cocoa powder - that would help.
Flourless Chocolate Torte (a.k.a. "You can't BEET this cake!")
Ingredients:
2 ½ C diced beets
3/4 C Agave
4 eggs
½ C oil
3/4 t vanilla extract
1/2 t chocolate extract (optional)
3/4 C cocoa powder
½ t salt
Directions:
- In a medium saucepan, heat the beets and agave to a boil, then cover. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, until beets are soft
- Transfer beet-agave mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth
- Blend in eggs, oil, vanilla, almond extract, cocoa and salt until thoroughly incorporated
- Pour batter into a well greased 9-inch round cake pan
- Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean
- The above mentioned raspberry sauce (or other flavor)
- Fresh fruit
- Chocolate ganache (I'm going to experiment with a dairy free one soon)
- Ice cream
- Whipped cream (you can make this by taking just the cream off the top of an un-shaken can of coconut milk, adding a sweetener, and beating it)
That looks yummy! I haven't tried beets yet but it's on my to-do list. I've seen beet sugar which I think would be good, too. I do like the idea of using fresh, naturally sweet ingredients as opposed to tons of agave - I don't have a problem with agave but my body is happier without too much of it. I have used dates and the consistency is a little different but it's still really good.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome!! I HATE beets to the point I...well, anyway. But I've learned that weird ingredients can make amazing products so I thought I'd give it a try, and besides, it was CHOCOLATE. This is now one of my favorite desserts and I will proudly make it for any guest! I found that it gets even better the longer it's in the fridge. Thank you
ReplyDeleteHi Kim - I know I've already commented on this post but wanted to thank you for participating in Slightly Indulgent Mondays! I still have this on my 'to make' list!
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