Recipe: Unbeetable Beet Cake

If you belong to a CSA as I do, you're probably wondering what to do with your bounty of beets! If you have kids, you are probably lamenting their distaste for this lovely purple root vegetable and wondering how to get through this week's lot before you receive more next week. Worry no longer -- in much the same style as the ever-popular zucchini cake, beet cake is an easy way to hide this fabulous veggie! If your kids are like mine, they won't even believe that there are beets in the cake unless they watch you make it. :)

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups beets (blanched, peeled and finely chopped)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 10-cup round cake pan. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs, then add chopped beets and vanilla. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and cardamom.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, blending at low speed just until moist. Pour into cake pan.
5. Bake for 50 minutes, or until edges pull away from the pan and inserted toothpick is removed clean.
6. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

I like to use a molded pan and sift a bit of icing sugar over the top of the cake, but a rich chocolate icing also pairs nicely with this cake.

All that's left is to cut a slice, add some lovely whipped cream and enjoy! Yum!