Chocolate Beet Snack Cake Recipe
Naturally-sweetened and inherently moist, this chocolate beet snack cake features winter beets – peels and all, in a comforting treat.
The winter months don’t have to feel limiting when you’re a seasonal eater. It’s the perfect time to take shelter in the kitchen and pack the oven full of roast vegetables and baked goods.
It seems like my stove is always blistering hot, ready to receive a steady rotation of breakfast muffins and sheet pan suppers.
For years now this Chocolate Beet Snack Cake has been a family favourite, as much for its deep flavour as the sentiment of home it evokes. I know you’re going to love it, too.
Chocolate Beet Snack Cake
This is the cake that is cooling on the counter when my children arrive home from school. It’s also their requisite birthday celebration cake, served up in bundt form.
Naturally sweet, inherently moist, you wouldn’t guess that this cake features winter beets – peels and all. Maple syrup balances out the slight bitterness of the beet peels and the dark cocoa plays well with both.
Bake this recipe once, and you’ll want to add it to the family dessert repertoire for generations to come.
Chocolate Beet Snack Cake is a treat that only improves with age! Make it well in advance of afternoon tea or Valentine’s Day.
TIP: Cook the beets ahead of time and this stir-together cake will be in the oven in minutes. Note that I give directions for extra roasted beet purée, as you will certainly be making this recipe again.
Kitchn has a step-by-step guide for roasting perfectly tender beets every time. This is more or less the method I used. Beet puree can be frozen, so dish up any extra in 1/2-cup portions and freeze for another baking day.
Chocolate Beet Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 3 medium beets scrubbed
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 medium egg room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup liquid honey
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Scrub the beets but do not peel or trim. Wrap whole beets in aluminium foil and roast until they can be pierced with a fork. This takes about 1 hour, but depends on the beet size, so keep an eye on them.
- Chop the cooked beets into quarters, then whip them into a purée using a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. (It doesn’t need to be like baby food, more like porridge in texture.) Reserve ½ cup of purée for this recipe, and then transfer the remainder to a freezer-friendly container. Freeze for another beet cake at a later date.
- Reduce oven temp to 350°F. Oil a standard 8 ½ x 4 ½ -inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Crack the egg into another mixing bowl and whisk until frothy. Pour in the melted butter and beat until incorporated. Add the maple syrup, honey and vanilla and beat until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Tip in ½ cup of beet purée and combine well.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and then fold in the sour cream. Fold together to eliminate lumps, but do not over-mix. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread until evenly distributed. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate on top.
- Place the pan in the centre of the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes. Do not open the door early or the cake may collapse in the centre. Test cake with a toothpick; it should come out mostly clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove cake from pan and cool completely. Cake will keep for up to four days in an airtight container. Cake is best served at room temperature.
Nutrition
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Would LOVE to win this for my daughter!
Looks so good! Could you use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream? I have all the other ingredients on-hand! Also, are cooked peeled beets ok?
Yes you can use Greek yogurt. Cooked peeled beets are perfect.
Would love to win this dinner setting in the color meringue.
This is just beautiful…
I would love to try this recipe but am curious how many cups approximately would 3 medium beets be equivalent to. Thank you
Three roasted medium beets is 1 cup of pureed beets. So, enough for two loaves.
I’ve been looking for a super moist, chocolatey cake, and THIS IS IT! I don’t need to look any further. It doesn’t even need frosting, and I just hope I can avoid eating it all before serving it tomorrow.
This cake is incredible, everyone loved it! So moist and wonderfully light! I will be saving this recipe!
Made 2 of these yesterday, substituting evoo for the butter and all-purpose einkorn flour for the all-purpose flour. They were delicious! My little ones and I devoured those 2. Beets and chocolate were made for each other. Making 3 more right now as I write review.
Love it!
This cake is in the oven right now, and I can already tell that it’s going to be delicious (sometimes you just know!). I doubled the recipe since I have so many beets from my garden that I needed to use. I put walnuts on top and cut some of the honey in an attempt to make it into more of a bread rather than a sweet cake. It smells so good and the batter was delicious (yes… I tried some batter… don’t tell!). Thanks for this awesome recipe!
I always double the recipe and make two loafs. 🙂
Unfortunately i did not liked this cake ,, i was hoping it will be moist and was the most dry chocolate cake i ever made. I followed the directions and checked again .. did not miss anything. Even sour cream in it did not made it moist. very disappointing. Love beets . I made some cakes with beets before all were very moist but not so dry like that one.
Hey Anna, thanks for the feedback. I just remade this again today and it’s insanely moist. I’m posting a Reel tomorrow to demonstrate. Is it possible you made a mistake? Or overbaked?
Sorry that it was disappointing for you.
We have a famous take out place called Portillos. It’s got an incredible chocolate cake but I am pretty sure this “beets” it!!! I have enuf beets for 4 more cakes, so excited to make it again.
Amazing! Yes I always cook extra beets.
This cake is incredible! Moist and delicious every time! I freeze the leftover beets in measured out portions so it’s that much faster the next time I make it 😉
This recipe is amazing but can we please talk about the amount of beets in this recipe? In the end we only use 1/4 cups of purée which is about 1 small beet! Now why did I go buy THREE for this recipe! 😄🥲 Thanks, -Jacqi
Hey Jacqi!
I just made this again today. So we actually use 1/2 cup! And there is 1/2 cup leftover for another batch, which can be frozen. The work to roast and puree the beets is kind of arduous, so I double up. Maybe I’ll mention it in the recipe. Sorry you were frustrated!
Today I made a double recipe. 🙂
I love this chocolate cake recipe and make it often with my organic beets. It gets eaten pretty fast in my house!
We love your organic beets, too, Emily!
I made this last winter for school, and everyone loved it. Snow Day today, roasting veggies for the week and had extra beets! So, I made 1 for the family, only 1 slice left! It is so moist and delicious! One loaf sliced, wrapped and ready for the teacher’s room tomorrow-everyone will be thrilled! Thanks Aimee💚
It’s a great snow day bake, Sue! Nice that you made extra to share. 🙂
I bake this cake often! It’s always moist and comes out perfect every time. My niece and nephew love it, and you cannot tell there are beets in it whatsoever. I despise beets on their own, and I love this cake!
Hey Lauren, the beets really are the secret ingredient!
Delicious!!!! Will make it again and again!
Thanks Elsie!
Made this cake so many times, and it is always a hit. Super moist and chocolate, great for snacking or fancy it up with icing and sprinkles for special occasions.
I made this today; doubled the recipe and used yellow beets. Substituted half of the butter with coconut oil since I ran out of butter. Turned out moist and delicious! The taste of the honey really comes through and works well with the chocolatey complexity with the beets.
This is a great cake! Healthy and delicious!
One of our family favorites❤️ THE BEST, as per my two chocoholic teenagers.
Teens are tough critics! Glad the cake is a hit.
Please don’t hate me Amy but…I am one of those lunatic commenters who substitute weird ingredients and then post reviews: I made this snack cake for a vegan friend who recently lost her beloved 12 year old pup (RIP dear Magnus) and made it 100% plant based by subbing the sour cream with homemade cashew sour cream, plant based butter, a flax egg and vegan dark chocolate. This cake knocked me OVER it was SO FREAKING GOOD, not to mention melt-in-your-mouth moist with a perfect crumb. I can only IMAGINE how amazing the non-plant based version is (I am slowly converting over to plant based so I might not ever know). I give this cake 5 stars and 10 thumbs up….That it can be so versatile only recommends it even more.
Also, sorry Aimee! Voice to text strikes again….
Thanks for the feedback Sherryn! Quite a few readers are telling me the vegan version is delicious. I may have to try it for myself.
I’ve used this recipe a few times and it has made a luscious, indulgent chocolate cake each time. Definitely worth remaking!
Had to try this after seeing the reel and it did not disappoint! Will happily make it again, and again, and again!
Loved this loaf. So moist! With the chocolate on top, my husband can enjoy it as well as me and my chocolate loving daughter.
Just figured out a way to use the left over pulp from the beets I have been juicing! Made these tonight and they were amazing! I am so glad I stumbled upon this recipe!!
I really enjoyed this recipe! Tasted like hommade cotsco muffins but without chemical flavors. I mixed in some strong coffee to add some complexity to the chocolate flavor. Thanks!!