a blackberry and beet chocolate cake for my husband

    my handsome man just had his birthday...and of course i show my love by baking. first it was dark  
    chocolate red wine cookies...yum, except i burnt them. so it was more like "bum." next, it
    was this cake. luckily, it did not burn, but instead it came right out of the oven perfectly...and then
    right into our mouths..

thanks to the beets, this cake has those earthy tones that we all know i love. and if you don't think about all of the cream cheese you are consuming in the icing, then you can totally think about it as "healthy."

blackberry and beet chocolate cake

adapted and inspired from verses from my kitchen

ingredients:

• 2 1/2 sticks brown sugar
• 5 small beets
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

for the icing:

• 16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 tbsp. heavy cream
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 tsp. vanilla

preheat the oven to 350 F. melt the butter on low heat in a sauce pan. while the butter is melting, puree the beets in a food processor. once the butter has melted, remove from heat and stir in the beets. add the sugar to the mixture and mix well. next, crack the eggs one by one into the pan, whisking as you go. finally, add the  tsp. of vanilla extract. transfer mixture to a medium sized bowl.

in another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, 1/4 tsp. salt). add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together. transfer the batter into three 9" cake pans that have been prepared with nonstick cooking spray. cook at 350 F for 25 minutes.

while the cakes are cooking, work on the icing. using a hand mixer, mix together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. add the wet ingredients--heavy cream and vanilla extract. mix until well combined. finally, add the cocoa and powdered sugar. you can add more powdered sugar if you want a thicker icing. chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator while the cake is cooling.

after the cakes have cooled, icing the top of each layer one at a time and stack them on top of each other. use the rest of the icing to cover the outside of the cake.

i was pretty happy with the outcome, and i think you will be too! enjoy!