Beet Down Red Velvet Cake

         

      So, I turned 24 yesterday. I woke up early, decided to postpone my birthday run due to frigid temperatures, and headed straight to Caribou for some coffee and reflection time. On my way, my brother sent me 24 by switchfoot. Needless to say, that song was stuck in my head all day. I took out the old six string and Lila and I sang it together. 

[24 oceans, 24 Skies, 24 failures, 24 tries]

        I know it seems strange, but birthdays aren't really my deal. I think there is too much hype and it leads to disappointment. So I asked my family to come over and let me cook them dinner. It sounds anti-birthday-ish but it's what I truly wanted. It was great. Lisa, Dale, Maggie, Jordan, my Dad, Dana and Lila were all there to make my birthday awesome. I got to bake and cook all day and ended the night watching my sweet girl revel in all the love we all have for her. I didn't expect or even want any gifts, but I got an awesome tray from lisa, a sweet note from my Dad, and Jordan bought me tickets to go to see Sigur Ros next month!!! Thank you to the perfect birthday guys. How did I get so lucky?

I made homemade pizzas for dinner using Andy and Tiff's Perfected Pizza Crust and lisa brought the salad. I'll write about homemade pizzas at a different time. Tonight is gonna be a piece of cake. Okay it's going to be about a piece of cake. Ok fine! It's about half of a cake because that is just about how much I've consumed. I'm not beeting myself up about it though, because it was my Beet Down Red Velvet Cake.   

    The cake is sweet, but not too sweet. It's super moist and delicious. Ps, It's made with beets. That cake cray. (sorry) 

There is plenty you can do to this cake to change it up. I have made it in the past replacing butter with coconut oil and that worked fine, you can make it into cupcakes, change the frosting up or anything else you come up with. The base of the recipe I got from JoyTheBaker. I know, what's new? But originally I had this cake in college when Ellie Lee made it. It's stuck with me. It's top secret. It's Beet Down Red Velvet Cake. 

Cream your butter and sugars. 

Alternate adding wet and dry ingredients. 

Beet Down Red Velvet Cake 

You'll need: 

2 medium beets, unpeeled but trimmed of their greens

(3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pans

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons red food coloring (optional if you really want it to look red)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk (I curdled my own with lemon juice)

For the Frosting:

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 to 5 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons cooked and pureed beets

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

pinch of salt

  

Fill a pot with water and boil chopped up beets until a fork slides in and out of a wedge. Drain, cool and peel the skin off of them before you puree them. Save 3/4 cups for the cake and 2 tablespoons for the icing. 

Miss Lila loved that I mixed the leftover
beets into her yogurt! It made it pink
and pretty! 

Next, cream your butter and sugars in your kitchen aid or using a hand mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time and scrape down when needed. Next add the vanilla and beets. Mix thoroughly. Combine all of your dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add half to the beet mixture, then mix until combined. Add half off the buttermilk, mix and repeat until everything is mixed in. Be careful not to overwork the batter. 

You'll end up with a thick batter that you divide equally between two greased, floured, and parchment papered cake pans. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes and let cool completely before frosting.

To make the cream cheese beet frosting, use your kitchen aid to combine the butter and cream cheese for a few minutes. Then add in your beets, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Finally add your powdered sugar until you get a nice thick and creamy constancy. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before icing.

This cake is great! My birthday was great. Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday and to my awesome family for coming to celebrate it with me!

- Love - Darla