Chocolate Beet Bundt Cake

Yield: 8-10 Servings

Cake:

4 Small Cooked Beets, Roughly Chopped

3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

8 Oz. Mascarpone Cheese

3 Tablespoons Heavy Cream

1 3/4 Cup Organic Cane Sugar

2 Tablespoons Espresso Powder

2/3 Cup Cocoa Powder

2 Large Eggs

1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 Tablespoons Sweet Shoppe Seasoning

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon Espresso Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Tellicherry Peppercorns

1 Teaspoon Baking soda

Glaze:

1 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

1/2 Cup Dark Cocoa Sugar

1/2 Cup Dark Cocoa Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Espresso Sea Salt

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

We don’t make a lot of chocolate desserts at the farm. Not because we don’t like chocolate – who doesn’t like chocolate?!? But it’s just not in our ‘wheelhouse’ when it comes to putting the final touches on a Farmhouse Fusion meal. Instead, we try to use what our garden produces for us as the starting point for even our desserts. And that’s how this recipe was born. We had great success with our Orange Cardamom Cream Cake, which was made with golden beets. So we wanted to develop a recipe that used some of the beautiful Detroit Red beets we grow every year. This one we did a little differently – we made the batter in our food processor. This created an elegantly smooth, creamy, and fudgey batter. And the cake that came from that batter? Nothing short of spectacular! Our guests loved every morsel, and came back for more. Yours will too. But shhhhh! Don’t tell anybody about the beets! They wouldn’t believe you anyhow. And feel free to tweak the recipe a little by adding Seville Orange Peel, Tradewinds, or Bravo! seasoning blends.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray Bundt pan with baking spray, making sure to coat all the nooks and crannies of the pan.

Place beets, butter, mascarpone, and cream in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times until the mixture is smooth. Add sugar, cocoa powder, seasoning, eggs, and vanilla. Pulse again several times until the mixture is well blended.

Using a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, and baking soda. Once blended, add slowly to the processor and process until the mixture is well blended and fluffy.

Spoon into prepared Bundt pan. Place on center rack in oven and bake for 45-55 minutes, until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool for 10-15 minutes before removing cake from pan. Invert pan on baking rack and remove cake. Let stand until completely cooled.

For the glaze, melt butter in a small sauce pan placed over low heat. Add sugar, cocoa, and salt; stir until well combined. Add cream, vanilla, and salt. Mix well and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for 10-15 minutes. Set aside and let cool slightly before glazing cake.