Rich Chocolate Beet Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting

There were a few requests for the recipe I used in yesterday's Cupcakes in a Jar so I thought I'd share it. Please excuse the less-than-awesome pictures. Also, the one cake I photographed kind of went all loose and gooey because it was 8 gajillion degrees out and I was being stubborn about air conditioning.

Tip: Refrigerate this cake!

Chocolate Beet Cake

1 can (15 oz.) whole beets, drained (save juice)
1 1/4 C sugar
3/4 C oil 

1/4 C apple sauce (if you don’t have apple sauce, use 1C oil)
1/2 C juice from beets
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla 

3TBL cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 C flour
3 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate, melted (if you don't have chocolate onhand you can substitute 3 level tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon butter, margarine or shortening or oil for every 1-ounce unsweetened baking chocolate.)

Grease pans. I use a bit of parchment in the bottom too, but skip this step if you like to live life on the edge :-)

Sift together salt, baking soda, cocoa and flour. Set aside.

Place beets in blender jar and puree. Add sugar, oil, applesauce and beet juice to beets and blend. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend well. 

Pour the beet mixture into a mixing bowl and add the dry ingredients. Mix well on medium speed for approximately one minute. 

Stir in melted chocolate. 

Pour batter into two greased and floured 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. Optional Step, sprinkle batter with mini-chocolate chips for flavor and texture boost. Don't panic that it's an icky shade of fuchsia, if you look at the "after" pictures, it looks like normal chocolate cake once it's baked.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool. Completely. (I mean it, if you don't you'll have a big mess like my cake above. Don't say I didn't warn you *grin*)

German Chocolate Frosting

1 C evaporated milk or half n half

1 C white sugar

3 egg yolk, beaten

1/2 C margarine or butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 C chopped pecans

1 1/3 C flaked coconut

In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla. 

(Ew!)

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick (about 12 to 20 minutes, depending on elevation). 

Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut.

 Cool until thick enough to spread. You can speed this step up by sitting pan in bowl of ice cubes and stirring constantly.

You're going to have to imagine this part going well... it was REALLY hot in the house so the frosting was sloppy. Sorry.

Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread with 1/3 frosting.

Top with second cake layer and spread with frosting. 

Some people just frost the top and let it run down the sides, others frost the whole cake. You can also use a dark chocolate frosting on the sides and German Chocolate (coconut pecan) on the top. 

Voila!

For cupcakes in a jar you just layer unwrapped cupcakes and frosting. I put an additional spoonful in the bottom of the jar because when it comes to coconut pecan frosting I firmly believe more is better. 

P.S. This is in direct opposition to my usual less-is-more opinion about regular buttercream frosting.

Chocolate Beet Cake With Coconut Pecan (German) Frosting