Red Velvet Cake (Week 5)

I know, you are looking at this and saying...."Red Velvet Cake?  What is she up to this time?"  Well, I stumbled upon something fabulous and really tasty:  Beets in a Red Velvet cake!  They are OMG wonderful and with the beets substituted basically for the oil, the are actually healthy and somewhat good for you.  I offer, for your Week 5 pleasure, two options.  Both made with Smith Family Organic beets....one is a "from scratch" and the other is a Duncan Hinds modification (for those of you with little time and a need to be creative).  

Red Velvet (or Chocolate Beet Cake)

• 1 cup white flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1-1/3 cups buttermilk (use non-fat if you wish)
• 1/2 cup real unsweetened butter, softened
• 3/4 cup egg substitute 
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups beets, peeled and shredded

First, wrap your beets (about 3 medium sized beets) in foil and bake at 350 until tender.  When finished, let them cool and then rub off the skins.  Place beets in the blender with a scant amount of water and puree.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with nonstick cooking spray, or rub with olive oil or melted butter. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flours, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk in buttermilk. Beat in butter, egg substitute and vanilla. Add beets. Pour in prepared cake pan. Bake 45 minutes. Cool, then frost with low fat cream cheese frosting.

Low Fat Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. Non fat/low fat cream cheese cheese
• 12 oz. fat-free frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat  cheese until smooth. Stir in thawed whipped topping and powdered sugar.  


The "Sinner's" Red Velvet Cake


Thanks to my sweet friend Ana who named her Mom's modification of a box cake to make it look like my Grandma's sponge cake.....the Sinner's Sponge Cake...we have the Sinner's version of the Red Velvet Cake.  This by the way was the first of the two efforts and I have to say, it past the taste test with my most picky eater, Dad.  I let him get all the way through the cake then told him it was beets.  He rolled his eyes but kept on chomping away!


Follow the directions on the box but here are my modifications (and I used the frosting from the above recipe).

• 1 box of Duncan Hinds Red Velvet Cake Mix (but I suspect you could use a white cake mix)
• 3 eggs (as directed)
• 1 and 1/4 water (as directed, but I added the 1/3 in apple juice)
• 1/3 cup beet puree (in place of veetable oil)