Don’t laugh, alright?
I know my Bundt looks kind of odd… But it’s not my fault, you see… it’s the pan!
What is it with manufacturers creating Bundt cake pans that give you cakes that resemble giant donuts?
I mean seriously, what are they thinking?
If I wanted a giant donut, I would buy a “giant donut” pan. Not a Bundt cake pan.
Wow, talk about a letdown. I’d been looking sooooo forward to that one. I hadn’t made a Bundt in YEARS and was looking so forward to unmolding this beautiful, deeply ridged, curvy and bumpy cake… and this is what I got.
Pfft.
I don’t know about you, but I like my Bundt cakes to bear beautiful, deep and well defined markings.
My kingdom for one of these babies!
But hey, all is not lost!
While I was visibly disappointed with the way my cake looked, I really can’t say the same about my taste test experience!
Oh goodness did it ever meet my expectations AND THEN SOME!
This cake REALLY takes the cake!
Talk about dense and crazy fudgy. Lord have mercy on me! It really does have the most amazing texture, I swear. Even my daughter said so. In fact, she’s the one who said it first! She said this was my bestest best success at replicating a “real” cake texture so far.
And the flavor is just plain wicked out of this world too!
Now I’m not gonna lie to you, the beets do come shine through. You DO indeed taste them… as in you can’t pretend that they are not there. But they work so very well with the chocolate!
In fact, I think I would’ve been disappointed NOT to taste the beets in that cake.
I deliberately chose to use raw, unpeeled beets to get as much color, taste and moisture as possible, as well as all the precious nutrients that this gorgeous ruby vegetable has to offer.
I think that my decision really paid off.
If like me, you appreciate beets to the max, you are going to fall crazy in love with this cake.
And seriously, let me ask you this. Have you ever before in your life had cake where the frosting was so healthy that you would actually WANT to add more because it was so good for you?
Well, you’re looking at one now!
But I strongly recommend that you taste it instead of just looking at it because frankly, it tastes MUCH better than it looks.
INGREDIENTS
- 550g raw beets, peel on, grated
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¾ cup date paste (150g)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup egg whites
- Vanilla extract
- 275g spelt flour (1¾ cup)
- 70g arrowroot flour (½ cup)
- ¾ cup dark cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 scoops vanilla flavored whey protein powder
- 2 scoop plain whey protein powder
- ¼ cup date paste
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup yogurt
- 3 tbsp pasteurized egg whites
- 2-3 tbsp raw cocoa nibs
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 375F and coat a bundt cake pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl combine dry ingredients and whisk until well incorporated. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your food processor, combine wet ingredients and process until smooth.
- Pour into dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until well combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool for 5 minutes, return onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
- Add date paste, yogurt and egg whites to a mixing bowl and blend with a whisk until smooth and well combined.
- Stir in cocoa powder and again, mix until smooth.
- Stir in whey protein powders and mix until well combined. Let rest for a minute then stir again until smooth.
- Place cooled cake in a serving plate and pour icing all over the top, letting it drip on the side.
- Garnish with raw cocoa nibs.
Start with a giant donut… erm sorry, I mean Bundt cake
Pour on a little bit of delicious chocolate frosting…
…or A LOT!
Garnish with cocoa nibs…
Cut yourself a slice…
And prepare to die. Well, almost! Check out that amazing fudgy texture.
Has your heart rate gone up yet?







Good call on the donut comment. It truly does look like a huge donut made from chocolate and beets. But, it is all about the taste…
Hmmm… when you put it this way, it doesn’t sound bad at all! “Huge donut made from chocolate and beets”. Sure, I’ll go for that!
Think I should rename my post?
I enjoy your blog and the cake looks great but I have to say that I find your use of the word ‘retard’ in your blog post totally inappropriate. It’s an incredibly derogatory term and one that has no place today’s language. See here for more info: http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/23/living/ann-coulter-obama-tweet/index.html
I’m really sorry you feel that way, Robyn. I didn’t mean to offend.
Haha – the frosting made it beautiful! I always have little places on the outside of my bundt cakes and I’m just like, “Oh well, nothing a little powdered sugar dust or frosting can’t fix!”. Regardless of the shape I’d be happy to eat this cake any day – sounds wonderful!
Ahah! I don’t do powdered sugar [anymore], but cocoa powder would work gloriously. Doesn’t bring out the markings, though…
Mmmmmmm. I love beets and chocolate together. Totally a winning combination. Thanks for this inspiration:)
Simply exquisite. And the calorie count is so reasonable per serving of this delight! I’m not sure I’ve made enough Bundt cakes to know the standard shape… this one does not seem that far off to me though – and besides, you have the uncanny ability to make everything look beautiful so retarded is definitely not what I would choose to call this gorgeous creation
.
Great post will pass the recipe along to the wife for the holidays.
Oh man! That looks incredible! Honestly, I’d go for a giant chocolate donut any day so the first picture looked just fine to be, but then when I scrolled down and saw the pictures with the frosting, and then with a bite… you almost had me drooling! This cake is going to the top of my to-do list for sure. I just have one question. Is there any way to make the frosting if you don’t have protein powder? And, if so, what changes should I make?
Thanks so much, and please keep the baked goods coming. I love them!
Thanks a bunch Ruta! To be honest, I don’t think that the frosting could be made without the protein powder, it would turn into something completely different. And as far as replacing it with something else, I really wouldn’t know what to use…
Sorry for liking my protein powder so much, I use that stuff in everything… soon I’ll be putting some in my coffee!
Wonderful looking cake! Even if it’s not quite the shape you want(and I know what you mean!) it’s still looks great!
Thanks Heidi! Very kind of you to say!
The cake is in the oven! Well a variation of it, using pureed kidney beans (no beets available here at this time of year) and wheat flour. I’m very dubious about the baking soda and powder levels. A combined total of 3 tablespoons in a heck of a lot! I fear my batter tasted very acidic. Does this bake out? I assume the cake won’t taste like baking soda… So excited for that fudgy texture!
YIIIIIIKES!!! Did I really write tbsp? Oh my, so sorry Christina… this should’ve have been TSP. I don’t think that it will totally ruin your cake though, you should be fine still. I could taste the baking soda big time in the batter but the taste completely cooked out. I’ll go and change the recipe right now. Let me know how your cake came out!!!
Meh didn’t seem to affect it! It was one huge cake though! Super high – I guess my bundt tin is a lot smaller/higher. You’ll see in photos shortly
Super tasty, not very sweet. So satisfying having this great slice of it for morning tea (as in, mid morning snack), slathered in chocolate icing, in front of my colleagues who are wide mouthed at my eating chocolate cake so early in the day.. pahaha they’ll never know..
Phew… so relieved! I was so worried after reading your last comment! Now I can breathe much better!
Can’t wait to see your pictures, I bet I’ll love your Bundt! Small and high usually results in very nice looking cakes! Are you going to post about it?
And isn’t it super cool to be eating cake for breakfast? ESPECIALLY chocolate! My favorite, for sure!
Well despite the donuty look… It does look very appetizing with that oozing chocolate down the side but you’re right about your bundt pan. It’s a bit of an odd shape!
Thanks Simone! Say, with all the baking that you do, I take it you must own quite a few Bundt pans… is there one that you could recommend for great results and beautiful, well defined markings?
How does it look odd? It looks like all of my bundt cakes. Oh well. I like it! I tried my first beet last weekend. I was awful. But I’m sure this cake is amazing for people who aren’t beet-haters! It’s definitely beautiful. You’ve been posting lots of desserts lately. Woohoo. Fine with me.
You didn’t like beets? What didn’t you like about them? Have you ever tried them in chocolate cake?
And I guess you have this same cheap pan if your Bundt cakes also look like that. Well, mind you, cheap isn’t really the right choice of word here, I’ve paid a good price for that pan. Yet, the grooves just aren’t deep enough and almost completely disappear from the cake after it’s baked. I bought a second one which I used for my pumpkin bundt, but it’s still not super well defined. Better, but not perfect. Looks like I’ll have to buy a 3rd pan…
As for my posting lots of desserts, I’m just super inspired lately. I’ve got MANY more in store!!!
This looks amazing. I can’t wait to make this. Curious about the beets! Beautiful photography!!
Thanks Deborah! I appreciate that!
This looks delish! About how many beets would you say you used? Did you use a food processor for the grating?
Thanks a bunch!
I think it was 3 large beets, but I can’t remember exactly… I didn’t need to use a food processor, just my regular stainless steel grater did the trick, but feel free to use your food processor if you want to! And let me know how this works out of you if you end up giving it a try!