Vegan Beet Chocolate Cake

5 from 3 votes

Indulge in this moist, fudgy vegan beet chocolate cake—an eggless delight that hides nutritious beets within rich cocoa flavor. Topped with a naturally pink cream cheese frosting, it's perfect for special occasions or as a unique dessert.

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Cooling Time10

Total Time1 5

Method: Baking

Course: Cakes

Servings: 16 Slices or 9-inch Layered Cake + 6 Cupcakes

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 and ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 and ½ cups beet puree (Two, 38 oz canned beets)
1 cup warm water
½ cup oil I used avocado oil
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter softened
8 oz cream cheese block softened
4-5 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons beet puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons milk/beets water
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

In a large bowl stir together the dry ingredients and make a well.
In another bowl combine together all the wet ingredients and gradually stir it into the dry mix using a whisk. Do not over mix. If you think that the batter is too thick add some more water/milk as needed.
Fill the prepared pans with enough batter and bake accordingly. I used the batter to make 6 cupcakes and two 9-inch round cakes. Baked the cupcakes for 15 minutes and cakes for 23 mins in a preheated oven at 350F/180C.

Frosting Procedure:

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until it's smooth and creamy. Then add the butter and beat it for another minute or two until it's well incorporated.
Add in a cup of sugar, beet puree, vanilla extract and lemon juice and beat well scraping the sides.
Add enough sugar as needed and milk/water as needed and keep beating until the desired consistency is reached.
Refrigerate the frosting for about 30 minutes before you can start frosting the cake.
Frost the cake as usual by leveling off the cakes and filling the frosting in between the two cakes and covering it up with the frosting. Decorate it as you wish.

Notes

Line the round cake pans with parchment paper so that you can remove the cakes from the oven with ease. It will just slide off and the wait time is short too, so that you can start the frosting quickly.
I used canned beets instead of buying fresh ones and cooking it. It made the whole process pretty easy. I blended the beets and very little beet water to make a smooth puree. Reserved some of the water to include in the frosting as well.
The original recipe used about ¾ths of a cup of unsweetened applesauce which I didn't have so replaced that with the beet puree as well. So I used 2 cans of beets in total. I think it was two 38oz cans.
This recipe can be made into a bundt cake or as a 3 layered cake if you don't bake cupcakes.

Frosting Notes:

For vegan cream cheese frosting using Tofutti and Earth Balance instead of cream cheese and butter.
I had only 2 tablespoons of puree left over from adding to the cake batter. A little more would have given an even brighter pinker hue to the frosting.

Nutrition