Chocolate Beet Cake

From CSA member Cheryl Munn

Thank you to Cheryl for passing on this great recipe. It makes a delicious moist cake! 

2 cups cooked and pureed with the skin on organic Red Fire Farm beets
1 cup organic granulated sugar
½ cup coconut oil, EVOO or butter
½ cup plain organic yogurt
3 organic eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup baking cocoa
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup all natural chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a bundt pan.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, oil, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla. Cream until smooth. Add the beets stirring to blend well.

Mix flour, cocoa, soda and salt together in a separate bowl. Add to the beet mixture, beating until just blended. Pour half the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the batter in the pan, pour the remaining batter over the top of the chips. You could add walnuts or other nuts with the chocolate chips.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Servings: 12 to 16.

Notes from making this cake for Chester’s Birthday in 2023:
For using as a sheet cake, you can put the cake in a 9×13 size pan, and start checking it for doneness earlier at about 30-35 minutes. A doubled recipe did well for us for Chester’s birthday cake in a big lasagna baking pan that had about the footprint of a big baking sheet. We used coconut oil, some date and coconut sugars, and added the zest of one lemon for fun. The cake batter was quite thick and didn’t pour, so we used a metal spatula to even it out in the pan before baking. It baked up nicely.

This cake with the date and coconut sugar we used and whole wheat flour doesn’t spike the blood sugar and is not very sweet, which I like, but you could add more sweetener and change up the flours if you like a sweeter fluffier cake.  And to top, we made a ganache of equal ounces of heavy cream and bittersweet baking chocolate warmed and stirred together in a double boiler- wicked good with a little bit of fresh fruit on top :). Cheers! ~ Sarah Voiland

Beets

Basics

Early season beets come bunched with greens. Later season beets come just as a root. We have three different varieties of beets: classic deep red beets, gold beets with a rich yellow interior, and pink-skinned Chioggia beets with pink and white candy-stripe circles inside.

Chioggia beets are an heirloom variety from an Italian town of that name. Beets and Swiss chard are in the same plant family.

Cooking Tips

You can eat the beet greens and stems from all the varieties, and there are delicious dishes that incorporate your whole beet plant.

Try sauteing beets, and then greens with garlic and onion,  and mix it all together with fresh goat cheese over pasta.

Roasted beets, just tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper are great – really brings out the sweetness.

Cooked beets make tasty cold salads with a little vinegar and onions.

Try them juiced raw (mixed with some other veggies or fruit) or grated raw on salads for beautiful color.

Roasted Winter Roots

From Sarah Voiland, 2010

When I was in college, I had what someone called a “root bake” for the first time, and it was so good!

The general idea is chop up all kinds of roots into similar sized chunks, coat/toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in the oven at about 400 until all items are soft to the tines of a fork. Stir after about a half hour. Herbs generally do better added part way in to cooking. To steam faster, cover fully with tin foil for a half hour, then remove the foil to allow browning.

Things you can include:
Parsnips, Rutabagas, Beets, Turnips, Daikon, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Onions, Garlic, Carrots, Herbs, Celeriac, Kohlrabi, and anything else I’m forgetting.

Variations could include adding any of the following: soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds, honey mustard, hot pepper flakes, making a cilantro or tahini dressing to pour over them, serving with ketchup or hot sauce with mayo, and who knows what else.

Easy Beets

1 bunch beets, greens removed 
1-2 pearl onions, or half a regular onion
2 Tbs. vinegar of choice
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs. cumin seed (opt)

Boil the beets in a small, lidded sauce pan until a fork goes in easily (~30 min). Drain and dump the beets in a bowl of cold water. Slip the skins off by rubbing them around in your hands (if you do this under the water, you shouldn’t splatter beet juice all over the kitchen).

Slice into bite-sized pieces. Mix in additional ingredients and chill for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Panama’s Pink Potato Salad

From Anna, a member of the CSA. Anna says: “I studied abroad in Panama in the Spring of ’08 and it was my favorite dish there. Panamanians mostly eat rice, beans, tropical fruits when in season, meat, and starchy foods…so having this mixed vegetable dish was a treat!”

5 medium sized potatoes
2 medium sized carrots
3 medium sized Bull’s Blood beets
1-2 stalk celery
1 onion
1 bunch parsley
1 clove garlic
3 eggs
1-2 tablespoon mayonnaise
1-2 teaspoon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Start by boiling the potatoes in a large pot. When they are close to half cooked add the beet and carrot.
Then add the eggs to the pot for the last 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop the celery, parsley, onion, and garlic.
Drain the potato pot. You should now have tender potatoes, a tender beet, carrot and a hard boiled egg.
Peel and dice the beets and carrots. It is a little counter-intuitive to us Americans, to boil and then do the chopping. However, that is the custom in Panama. The cooks say it is easier to peel the vegetables after boiling.
Separate the hard boiled egg white from the egg yolk. Chop the egg whites. Crumble the egg yolk. Mix the egg whites, celery, parsley, onion, garlic, mayonnaise and mustard in a deep bowl. Then add everything else and mix just enough to coat the vegetables with the mayonnaise.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add more mayonnaise or mustard to the desired consistency. Mix well.
Sprinkle the crumbled egg yolk on top for a beautiful touch of yellow color!

Serves 4

Beet and Winter Squash Strudel

12-16 phyllo pastry sheets 
oil or melted butter for brushing
2 large beets or 4 small
2 cup peeled and diced winter squash
1 cup goat cheese
1/2 cup ground walnuts

Prepare beets and squash:  Dice beets into 1/2 inch cubes.  Place beets and squash in a baking dish, cover, and roast for 30 minutes.  (note, this can be done ahead of time) Mix with goat cheese, beets, walnuts, and winter squash.

Lay six thawed phyllo sheets together by brushing one sheet at a time with butter and stacking on top of each other. Spread the beet mixture lengthwise near one side about 3 inches in width, leaving 1 inch on each end of phyllo. Fold the end into the mixture then begin to roll the phyllo up. Brush the top with the oil and repeat with remaining sheets.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until they begin to brown. Slice into 2 inch thick wedges.

For a Vegan version: It is possible to omit the goat cheese. I do recommend using crumbled tofu mixed with nutritional yeast and maple syrup or soy yogurt in place.