Chocolate Beet Cake With Coconut Pecan Frosting

Photo: Nicole Maki

Ingredients

Chocolate Beet Cake:

1 can (15 oz.) whole beets, drained (save juice)

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup oil

1/4 cup apple sauce (if you don’t have apple sauce, use 1 C oil)

1/2 cup juice from beets (I use all that's left in the can and don't measure)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 3/4 cups flour

3 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate, melted

Coconut Pecan Frosting:

1 cup evaporated milk or half n half

1 cup white sugar

3 egg yolk, beaten

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

cups flaked coconut

Preparation

Grease pans. I use a bit of parchment in the bottom too, but skip this step if you like to live life on the edge :-)

Sift together salt, baking soda, cocoa and flour. Set aside.

Place beets in blender jar and puree.

Add sugar, oil, applesauce and beet juice to beets and blend.

Add eggs and vanilla. Blend well.

Pour the beet mixture into a mixing bowl and add the dry ingredients.

Mix well on medium speed for approximately one minute.

Stir in melted chocolate.

Pour batter into two greased and floured 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.

Optional Step, sprinkle batter with mini-chocolate chips for flavor and texture boost. Don't panic that it's an icky shade of fuchsia, it looks like normal chocolate cake once it's baked.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool. Completely.

Coconut Pecan Frosting:

In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick (about 12 to 20 minutes, depending on elevation).

Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut.

Cool until thick enough to spread. You can speed this step up by sitting pan in bowl of ice cubes and stirring constantly.

Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread with 1/3 frosting.

Top with second cake layer and spread with frosting.

Some people just frost the top and let it run down the sides, others frost the whole cake. You can also use a dark chocolate frosting on the sides and German Chocolate (coconut pecan) on the top.