Well, that's random!

I'm excited to see that my blog is highlighted today as "Today's Ten Random Blogs" on the Foodie Blogroll. A very warm welcome to my new visitors! Thanks for stopping by. I needed that kick in the butt to write a new post, so I'm going to make this a good one.

Oh boy, you're going to love this.

Chocolate Beet Cake! Let's get ready to rumble!!

This week, I received three beautiful red beets in my CSA box. If you've been to my blog before, you know how much I adore beets, but have only used the golden variety. Honestly, I feel like Lady Macbeth after chopping up a vegetable that oozes red juice everywhere.

However, red beets were present and accounted for and I had to carry on. Carefully.

Recently, I've read that the natural sugar in beets can enhance the flavor of chocolate. Yes, you read that right. So, I found a recipe for chocolate beet cake and decided to give it a go.

You're shaking your head in disbelief, right? You've shoved your chair away from the computer desk in disgust. Hands thrown in the air in utter contempt. You may even be sticking your fingers in your ears and singing "I'm not listening!" But if you trust me at all. Even the tiniest bit. Please, please make this cake.

Chocolate Beet Cake, posted by Paula Borchardt, Tucson CSA

approximately 1 cup cooked, chopped beets
1/4 cup water
approximately 1 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips

Puree the beets and water in a blender or food processor. Pour into a large measuring container and add enough applesauce to make two cups total. Mix in the vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar.

In a separate bowl, mix all the other ingredients together; fold in the beet mixture and mix all thoroughly. Bake in a pre-greased 9×13″ pan at 325° for 35 minutes.

• I boiled one large beet in a saucepan with just enough water to cover it. After I drained the water and pureed it, it was only 3/4 cup. I probably should have thrown in another half a beet to make it 1 cup. Oh well.
• Quality ingredients make for a quality end product. I splurged and bought Ghirardelli cocoa and chocolate chips. No regrets here.
• The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour. I decided to take a chance and split that between 1 cup of whole wheat and 1/2 cup of white flour. Don't get me wrong, I love baked goods with whole wheat flour, but it tends to create a denser product. I wanted this cake to be light and moist. It was all that and more.
• Notice there's no oil, eggs or milk in this recipe. If you used vegan chocolate chips, you would have a vegan dessert. Remind me to tell you sometime about my trip to San Francisco over a decade ago and my first visit to a vegan bakery (yes, JB, you were with me!) Aah, what a mere child I was then. So much to learn.

Notice there's no picture of the chocolate beet cake in this post.

That's because it's gone. Gone, baby, gone.

Now go make it!