Beet and Carrot Cake

Submitted by Louise in Montreal

"I inherited this wonderful recipe from my grandmother which used almost everything that grew in her garden to make cakes. Moist and colorful, this cake could be prepared during the Christmas holiday's season. My children used to beg for me to make it when they saw beets on the table!!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Yields: 1 cake
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup sunflower oil
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons hot water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups raw carrots, finely shredded
• 1 cup raw beet, finely shredded ((See Note *)
• 1⁄2 cup chopped nuts
• 3 egg whites

directions

1. Note: Use raw beets and raw carrots. After the cake is cooked, they become cooked, but they have to be added raw in the cake preparation.
2. Preheat oven at 350°F.
3. Butter a bundt cake pan or use Pam.
4. In a bowl, mix oil, sugar, egg yokes, vanilla extract and water; set aside.
5. In another bowl, pass through a sieve the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon powder.
6. Incorporate to the first mix.
7. Add the raw carrots, the raw beets and the nuts and mix well.
8. With the electric mixer, whip the egg whites until they are fluffy.
9. Fold delicately into the cake preparation.
10. Pour into the greased cake pan.
11. Bake approximately 50 minutes.
12. Serve with my Cream Cheese and Applesauce Frosting.

Reviews

[Nicole F.]

There are a couple changes I'd make to this recipe when I make it again - and I DEFINITELY will make it again. Made it on a whim and fed it to my foodie boyfriend and his not-so-foodie friends and they all really liked it. I really tasted the beets, but not in a bad way.<br/><br/>To start I'll say this cake was beautiful - the beets turned into little red flecks, which surprised me because in the oven, the batter was pink. The cake itself turned a fantastic golden shade. Everyone commented on how pretty it was.<br/><br/>I also subbed in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce for the oil. I don't usually sub 1 to 1, but I might try it with this. I'd definitely add some ginger and possibly some nutmeg or other fall spices to this. I used the full amount of sugar, but it didn't seem like it was overly sweet at all.<br/><br/>I didn't frost, but in the future I'll definitely try Louise's cream cheese applesauce frosting. Might also be good with a simple glaze.<br/><br/>Great recipe, thanks so much for posting.

 

[jane49423]

I'm in a CSA farm co-op for the first time and this week's allocation had both beets and carrots. This was a great recipe. I put the batter in muffin tins (think I baked about 35 minutes) and frosted some, kept others plain. Didn't tell my kids about the beets and they really ate them up. Also froze some to reheat and that's worked well.

 

[CongoGirl]

This reminds me very much of a typical carrot cake recipe, and carrot cake is my favorite. I couldn't taste any beet flavor at all. I reduced the amount of sugar by about 1/4-1/2 cup and used some brown sugar. I also used 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1/4 cup apple sauce for part of the oil. I will make this again next time I get beets in my weekly box of produce.

 

[Catherine B.]

My CSA box had a few beets & carrots, so I was excited to try your recipe. We loved it! I substituted unsweetened applesauce for half of the oil. With just a dusting of powdered sugar, it was great for breakfast, too!