Say hello to one of the richest, moistest, most delicious chocolate cakes you’ll ever eat. With cooked and pureed beetroot, this cake is gooey and fudgy but does not taste like beetroot. It’s the miracle ingredient that gives the cake its magical texture and you’ll be sold on the first bite, I promise. And because you can never have too much chocolate, there’s also a ganache topping!
My Mom makes this cake often and it’s originally from the late chef Ross Burden. If you do a little quick Googling, you’ll see it’s a popular recipe! My Mom’s version has lesser sugar and slightly more melted chocolate which means the cake is extra rich and awesome. While I had this recipe on the blog years ago, I decided to redo it with new photos and this time, added a ganache as well.
Since it’s an oil-based cake, it’s super moist by itself but the beetroot, much like zucchini in cakes, adds even more moisture. The result is so decadent, I hope you have lots of people around to share it with, or plenty of freezer space!
This is a large cake and takes a while to bake. The beetroot puree should also be cooled completely before using, so this is a great cake to start the day before you plan to slice it. I hope you’ll try it soon!
Please read the recipe notes before beginning.
Chocolate Beetroot Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 300 gms raw beetroot
- 100 gms dark chocolate (70% to 75%), finely chopped
- 3 eggs, at room temperature (I have not tried substitutes)
- 1 and 1/3 cups caster sugar (250 gms)
- 1 cup vegetable oil (250 ml)
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (200 gms)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (30 gms)
- 1 and 1/2 tsps baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the ganache frosting
- 100 gms dark chocolate (50% to 60%), finely chopped
- 1/3 cup cream (80 ml)
Instructions
- This is a good recipe to start the day before you plan to eat the cake. First, cook the beetroots until tender, in a pressure cooker (2 to 3 whistles) or boil them in an open pot on medium heat, refilling the water as needed (this will take longer than a pressure cooker). They should be easy to poke with a knife. Cool completely, peel, slice off any bits of the stems, then blitz in a blender or food processor until finely pureed. If not using it the same day, store covered in the fridge.
- To make the cake, first melt the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In the meantime, grease a 9 inch springform or round cake tin. Preheat the oven to 175 C.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla until smooth. Use a hand mixer if needed, but a balloon whisk is also effective.
- Add the melted chocolate, stir gently and then add the beetroot puree. Whisk or beat on low speed to combine.
- Finally, sift in the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt (you could also do this in a separate bowl if you prefer) and gently fold to combine.
- The batter isn't super runny and if needed, run a hand mixer through it to break up any lumps. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 50 minutes, until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. If the top is darkening too fast, cover loosely with foil and reduce the temperature to 165 C and continue baking. All ovens vary, so start checking for doneness at 45 minutes.
- Allow the cake to cool completely at room temperature (I left it out loosely covered, overnight).
- To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Stir the cream and sugar together in a small saucepan and heat till just barely simmering, hot but definitely not boiling. Pour over the chocolate and let it stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir to melt the chocolate through. If there are still lumps, place the bowl over a pot of simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the water) and gently stir till smooth.
- Let the ganache cool for 5 minutes, then slice off any uneven bits off the top of the cake, and spread it all over. Let the ganache set on the cake for 10 minutes, then slice and dig in!
- Once frosted, store the cake in the fridge for 5 to 6 days or in the freezer for longer. Tastes best at room temperature or slightly warmed up. Happy baking!
Notes
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Hi Gayatri,
Just wanted to let you know that I stumbled upon your site while searching for beetroot cake. I tried your recipe and loved the results. I was then tempted to try out the savoury pesto rolls and that was so terrific that I had to try more. Now I’m going to try the onion and cheese rolls. Thanks so much for your lovely recipes. Your taste in bakes is so similar to mine!
Hey Radhika! That is so so good to hear, thank you for your kind words! I hope you love the onion cheese rolls too and the beetroot cake is one of my favourites 🙂
My cake was all cracked from top
And rook more than 1 hour a d was still a bit soggy from inside.can you tell what mistake i made?
Hi Sofia, the cracks are ok, not unexpected. The cake is moist but as long as it wasn’t soggy because it was raw inside, I wouldn’t worry. It helps to also loosely cover the tin with foil and continue baking if the center isn’t done yet.
Thanks.it worked.but another issue occured.the ganache i applied on top of the cake turned hard.while cutting the cake, the chocolate topping broke into pieces:(
Hmm I’ve never experienced that, though ganache will harden after refrigeration or set faster if it’s poured over a cold cake. Is that what happened ?
Wow! Love this recipe, perfect texture & not too sweet! Better the next day too! Thank you ☺️
Yay! Very happy to hear you enjoyed this cake, it’s one of my favourites 🙂
This is a yummy cake which I plan to bake again. Just looked through the recipe but couldn’t find your note on egg substitute. I remember there was a note on the amount of curd/buttermilk that can be used and I had followed that, the cake had turned out great. Could you let me know what is the amount of curd/buttermilk that can be used? Thanks!
Hi! I actually removed that note because I suspected the cake may sink in the absence of eggs to make it stable but if I remember right it was 1/3 cup yoghurt I’d suggested however I can’t be completely sure, I’m sorry! I hope it works out 🙂
Can we used strained yogurt instead of oil?
If yes, what would be the ratio?please tell in grams.
Without trying that myself, it’s hard to say. The cake may be a little dry without oil.
Awesome recipe. Made the cake without topping. Super moist and delicious. My kids loved it😍
So happy to hear that !
Hi Gayatri, I just tried this and it was amazing! The recipe is an absolute keeper. The only changes that I did was to keep the amount of Sugar at 250 grams (unfrosted). I found that it was the perfect level of sweetness for me. I measured out 300 grams of cooked Beets io raw. Took me a longer time to cook the cake (around 1 hour 20 minutes) but the results were spectacular. Thanks again❤
Thank you for trying this cake, Sayonee! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous, didn’t make the topping as I prefer my cakes without. Baked yesterday, even more moist today
That’s great Christine! Thank you for making this cake 🙂
I have some ALREADY baked beetroots. Do you know how many GRAMS of already cooked beetroots I would use??
It would still be the same amount
Hi,
I love that you mostly used things that already are lying around a Mumbai kitchen. I’m not too happy about baking with oil though, once can’t just substitute it with butter, yes?
Hi Aarti, yes, my biggest attempt is always to make sure I’m not going crazy looking for ingredients 🙂 I don’t recommend butter for this cake since oil gives it a lot of moisture, you can’t taste it, I promise 🙂
This is such a unique cake idea. 🙂 I’m sure it tastes really delicious.
It’s really amazing! Hope you’ll try it 🙂
Gorgeous, I believe you. I recently made one like that with black beans, and it was oh so yummy. I blogged on it to :). I love beetroots, especially when they are sweet. I’ll be trying this for sure, after I’ve figured out those measurements :). It looks deliciously moist.
Definitely a great way to eat beetroots 🙂 Let me know how it goes! Unfortunately the recipe was written in weight measures so that’s what I went with but you could try a converter too?