I just got back from a magical walk in the woods with my mom. I had a very busy week, so this entire recipe was made and tested in one day. Photographed, eaten, and enjoyed. I picked up beets at the farmers market on Friday, one of my favorite ingredients to get creative with, and endeavored to make a bright pink red velvet beet cake. But after a couple unplanned chemical reactions I had an orange zucchini-bread like cake with a subtle beet flavor and a bright pink beet cream cheese frosting. It wasn’t what I planned for, but I loved it!

Beet Cake with Pink Frosting

My week was packed. Which I dreaded somewhat. Tuesday we had a staff meeting, so I drove to work at 5pm to learn about thermometers and to snack on toast with strawberry jam and clotted cream. It was a really helpful learning lesson and it was nice to see the people I don’t normally work with. On Wednesday I sat in the park before work and had a great day filled with interesting cooking questions and good weather. Thursday I took my grandmother to the doctor. Which I didn’t mind, but she profusely apologized, and subsequently thanked me for. I almost missed the farmers market but got home just in the nick of time.

The bread man was gone and had sold out early. No everything bagel for me. The farm stand was still filled with beautiful produce – tomatoes, blueberries, and cucumbers. I also stopped to admire peaches and raspberries and picked up the rest of the things on my list. I drove home tired and hoped to have enough energy to cook. But I chose instead to work on a large greeting card order and made the delivery a few minutes before closing. I made pizza for dinner and went to bed early. Exhausted. I worked Friday and Saturday and sold a $300 knife to a nice couple, which I was proud of.

Magical Hikes and Green Trees

When I woke up Sunday I realized I had conquered the week. The hard stuff was behind me. So my mom suggested we take an early walk, knowing that I had to utilize the rest of the day to bake my beet cake. We pulled up to a dirt road behind a theater, next to my elementary school, and hiked into a wooded path. I was quickly struck by nostalgia when I noticed the tree my 5th grade class planted 20 years ago. Much larger than me now. I showed my mom the placard and we talked about how fast time has gone by. I remember that day, all those years ago. A special field trip and disbelief that our little tree would ever get big.

We hiked through meadows and over wooden bridges, listening to frogs and birds and shifting small rocks and sticks under our feet. It felt almost like we had time traveled to another year and country. Completely filled with peace and quiet and pure beauty. It also reminded me of our walks in the Italian countryside years ago. The house we stayed in was nestled into the woods near an olive farm and we spent many days and nights traversing the steep, wooded dirt path to get pizza and to take photos. We walked longer than usual, too, so I was tired when we got home. Yet, refreshed and invigorated mentally.

Beet Syrup + Cream Cheese Frosting

So I unwrapped my beets, which patiently waited for me for two days. I thought of my beet salad, which is still one of the most delicious creations I’ve made. I started by wrapping them in tin foil and rubbing them with some olive oil. A sprinkle of sea salt too. I roasted them for nearly an hour. The scent of delicate, sweet beets filling the house. I let my cream cheese and butter soften on the counter and researched red velvet cakes. My own recipe first, and the chemical reaction that cocoa powder and vinegar have with the red food dye. I dreamed of a vivid, reddish-pink crumb with a pale pink frosting. And I couldn’t wait to see it come to life.

When the beets were roasted and rested, I peeled and grated them, staining my fingertips with bright pink. I took the last one and blended it with water, like I would for dying bread or dumpling dough. My favorite guide to colored dumplings is in First Generation by Frankie Gaw. It helped me immensely in my first encounters with dyed doughs and opened up a world of possibilities. I used it for my green apple dumplings! Anyway, I blended a beet with water to make a beet syrup. I cooked it down in a pan with sugar and let the magenta potion bubble away for 10 or so minutes.

Magenta Cake Batter

My butter and cream cheese had softened, so I whipped it up in my stand mixer with a little bit of orange zest. Normally you would add powdered sugar and food coloring to get a nice pink frosting, but I wanted it to taste like my roasted beets. It is a beet cake after all. So I poured in my cooled pink beet syrup instead. As I streamed it in the white frosting became more and more pink and finally became the hue of a blushed rose. Gorgeous. The frosting got a little too thin so I let it firm up in the fridge in a piping bag.

The cake itself was a gorgeous magenta after mixing together the beets, the rest of my beet syrup, and all my wet ingredients. I alternated adding the dry and the wet and was so happy with how vividly pink the batter was. So I started to get excited. And I gave it a taste, which was delicate. Earthy and sweet. The consistency was perfect, too, and I liked the touch of grated beets throughout the batter. Like the look of carrots in carrot cake.

An Orange (Not Pink) Beet Cake

When the timer went off I pressed my finger into the top of a very orange cake. It was done. I figured the inside would still be pink. But after it cooled and I started to slice, my heart sank. The reaction of the baking soda and the beet juice caused the pink color to oxidize and turn orange. So take caution – if you want a really pink cake, I would blend the beets in, not grate them. And don’t use baking soda. It helps to add some acid, too, like lemon juice or vinegar. At first I panicked, as it was already Sunday. I had no time to start over and I used a lot of ingredients that I had no motivation to re-purchase at the store.

The cake was delicious. The frosting was, too, so I ate lunch and pondered solutions in my head. I could just keep it as a sheet cake and cover the thing with pink frosting. No one would know. Or I could brush the cake with beet syrup to dye it. It would moisten it, too. But ultimately I calmed down and realized I loved the color contrast of the reddish orange and the delicate pink frosting. It reminded me of an Ottolenghi recipe. And honestly, it tasted damn good. Very similar to zucchini bread, with freckles of purple beets instead of the green specks of zucchini skin. It would make a killer loaf cake. Glazed in pink.

Slicing and Frosting

So I sliced the cake into 4 rectangles and layered it with pink frosting. Similar to my lemon basil cake from last summer. When the cake chilled, I sliced it into squares so you could see all the layers. And I laid them down on a baking sheet. I took a sigh of relief. After trimming the edges and seeing the orange and pink stripes, I decided that I loved it. Both rustic and gourmet.

I finished by piping a dot of frosting on each slice of beet cake. And I garnished them with a beet leaf. I planned to add candied walnuts, too. But I ran out of time, and I really liked the simplicity. So I decided to put the recipe behind me. Well, not totally behind me, as I ate the scraps of cake trim. My parents tried them too. The cream cheese beet frosting is was succulent. Pungent, in a good way, and tangy from the cream cheese. With a pop of citrus and salt, too. And I loved the color. The cake is so tender, springy, and fresh tasting. Not too sweet. It reminded me of my childhood – we used to spread cream cheese on zucchini bread for dinner.

Earthy, Sweet, + Tangy Beet Cake

The earthiness and tang are such a good pair. I really liked the look of the shredded beats in the cake batter, too, and didn’t mind the color change. Next time I’ll make it again without the baking soda to see if I can get that pink color. But for now, I’m so happy with this cake. And I have a ton of slices to eat. Maybe I’ll take it to work Wednesday.

Thank you for reading! Be sure to check out my Etsy for 100’s or recipe cards and art prints. Use code THEFORKEDRING for 25% off. See you next time!

Print Pin

Beet Cake

A tender, fresh beet cake with beet cream cheese frosting

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword beets, cake

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Author theforkedring

Ingredients

• 5 whole beets
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 16 oz cream cheese
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 1/4 cup AP flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cut stems and leaves off of beets and place on a sheet of tinfoil. Drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil and a 1/2 tsp of sea salt and wrap tightly.
• Place on a baking sheet in the oven and cook for 35 – 45 minutes, or until soft and reelable. Let cool and peel.
• Grate 4 of the 5 beets on a box grater and set aside. Blend the 5th in a cup blender with 3/4 cup water.
• Strain 3/4 of the blended beet juice through a fine sieve into a small saucepan.
• Add 1/2 cup white sugar and cook over medium high for 5-10 minutes until bubbly and syrupy. Remove from heat.
• In a stand mixer, whip together cream cheese, 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp orange zest. Slowly pour in the beet syrup while mixing on high.
• Transfer pink cream cheese frosting to a piping bag and seal. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• In a clean stand mixer bowl, beat 1 stick unsalted butter with 1/2 cup white sugar until light and fluffy.
• Meanwhile, whisk sour cream, vegetable oil, the rest of your beet syrup, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
• Once butter and sugar is light and fluffy, add 2 eggs, one at a time, until incorporated.
• In a large bowl, sift together AP flour, baking powder, and 1 tsp kosher salt. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture and combine.
• Alternate adding the wet ingredients with 1/3 of the dry ingredients until combined. Let batter rest and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Pour batter into parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the cake springs back when pressed. Let cool completely.
• Remove cake from pan and slice into 4 equal rectangles. Pipe a layer of frosting on top of the first piece and cover with the next rectangle. Repeat until cake is assembled and chill for 30-60 minutes.
• Slice into 12-16 square pieces. Garnish each slice with a dollop of frosting and a small beet leaf.

Notes

• My original recipe uses baking soda to keep the crumb lighter. But in the spirit of a pure pink batter, I’ve omitted the baking soda and added a touch of extra baking powder. 
• If your cream cheese frosting is too runny, you didn’t let the beet syrup chill enough. But it’s fixable! Just chill the frosting in your stand mixer bowl for 30 minutes and whip it up again.
• You can absolutely make this as a sheet cake and simply spread the beet frosting on top (if you don’t feel like assembling a layer cake).