Chocolate Beet Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Pistachios

I'm one of those people who would be really good self employed, or working at home. I am ridiculous about making schedules for myself and to-do lists to check off. Can you say Type A? This winter break has been a very productive one for these reasons. It's an amazing feeling to do all these little things that I haven't had the time (or energy) to do during the regular work week.

I've put up a lot of pictures in the house, which is making it seem so much more homey and mine. I decorated a little for Christmas, which was nice... but hit the Salvation Army a couple days ago and found some AMAZING deals to spruce up the house for next year! I've cleaned and organized, created a lovely little office area for myself, and even motivated myself to put together everything I need to officially launch a baking business.

This is my dream: to open a cafe that sells beautiful cakes and cupcakes and breakfast-y baked goods, along with having a stellar brunch menu (because brunch is the most amazing meal of the day!). I've always thought this was just a dream... but this year I thought, what the heck? Take a small step towards pursuing this dream and see what happens! You can never achieve dreams if they just stay in your head. You have to put yourself out there. I'm super anxious about it - sharing the Facebook page with all of my friends, the website is out there for reals - but it's a good anxiety.

So, I thought I would celebrate the launch with a cake recipe. I haven't decided if I'm going to offer this as one of my cakes (in regular layer form) because it's a bit obscure and I'm unsure it would sell. This chocolate beet cake did get rave reviews though! I've been very curious about a chocolate beet cake for awhile and this was my second attempt. I found a recipe by a blogger that I haven't heard of until now, but his post was really thoughtful and I like his voice as a writer. Plus, he credited his recipe to the original author which I LOVE (See previous post/ rant). I'll definitely be perusing his site for continued inspiration.

I did make a few changes to his changes to the original recipe. I wanted to make it a layer cake, so I used 2 10 in. cake pans instead of 1. I also almost doubled the amount of beet in there, added more spice, more chocolate, and added a cream cheese frosting with pistachios. The changes were simply wonderful, and got all kinds of exclamations and smiles from my friends, which is the whole reason I bake anyhow. Spreading love one piece of cake at a time!

I hope you enjoy this one!

Dark Chocolate Beet Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

1 large beet

9 oz dark chocolate (I used Ghiardelli 60%)

2 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 cup espresso

14 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

5 eggs, separated

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz block cream cheese

4 oz unsalted butter at room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp half and half

1/4 cup Roasted and salted pistachios, chopped

First, cover the beet with salted water and bring to a boil. Simmer with lid askew for 30-40 minutes or until beet is easily pierced with a knife. Strain and allow beet to cool. Run under cold water and peel. Cut into smaller chunks and purée (I used my food processor) and set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, Ginger and cocoa powder in a bowl.

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate over medium heat. Use a little of the melted chocolate to create a garnish of your choice (I did hearts). Stir in the espresso. Cut the butter into small pieces and add a couple at a time until full incorporated into the chocolate. I had to reheat chocolate mixture in my double boiler so that it would fully melt.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Incorporate beet purée. Incorporate 5 egg yolks. Place the egg whites in a separate bowl with 1/4 tsp cream of tartar. Whip to stiff peaks.

Fold in the sugar to the egg whites. Careful to not overmixed this or any of the following steps!

Fold in chocolate beet mixture. Then, fold in the flour mixture.

Pour into 2 (greased) 8in circular pans. Bake at 325 F for 15 - 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

When cake has cooled, use a round cookie cutter to cut out layers for the mini cakes if so desired.

Prepare the frosting. Cream the cheese and butter together using an electric mixer. Mix in powdered sugar and half and half to reach your desired consistancy. You could add up to a cup more of sugar (and some more half and half if so) to meet your preferred taste. 

Place a layer of cake and spread with frosting. Top with pistachios. Repeat with next later. Add garnish and voila!