This chocolate beet cake is deeply rich, incredibly moist, and naturally sweetened with wholesome ingredients like beet purée, honey, and cocoa. The beets melt right into the batter, creating a tender crumb and deep chocolate flavor without tasting earthy at all.
It is the kind of simple, from-scratch dessert that feels both nourishing and indulgent, and no one will guess they are eating beets!
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Quick Look at This Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Chocolate Beet Cake
- ✅ Ready In: About 45 minutes
- ✅ Yield: 1 (9-inch) cake, about 8 servings
- ✅ Calories: ~220 per serving (varies based on ingredients)
- ✅ Tools: Mixing bowls, whisk, spatula, 9-inch cake pan, parchment paper
- ✅ Freezer Friendly: Yes, up to 2 months
- ✅ Why You'll Love It: Moist, rich, simple, and made with nourishing ingredients
- ✅ Tip: Use well-puréed beets for the smoothest texture and best flavor
What Makes This Recipe Unique?
- Better Nutrition - Just like my healthy black bean brownies, rich chocolate potato cake, and zucchini cake recipe, chocolate beet cake is a sneaky way to add nutrients to a special treat.
- Lower Sugar - Naturally moist and rich, no frosting required.
- Simple - No complicated steps or equipment, just real, wholesome ingredients you likely already have, and straightforward steps that just work.
- Versatile - Flexible for gluten-free baking with simple swaps.
Key Ingredients
For a full list of ingredients and measurements, check out the recipe card below.
- Beet Purée - You can use freshly cooked beets or canned beets. Whichever you have on hand is great.
- Butter - We love using this homemade butter recipe.
- Cocoa Powder - Choose unsweetened cocoa powder.
Recipe Variations
- Gluten-Free - Simply swap all-purpose flour for your favorite gluten-free 1:1 baking blend.
- Coffee - You can swap the coffee for water, if preferred. We love the way the coffee deepens the chocolate flavor, though. Especially when we are roasting coffee at home.
Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, oil, sugars, honey, coffee, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the beet purée until fully incorporated.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch.
Step 3: Add half the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir gently. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
Step 4: Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top.
Step 5: Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
Step 6: Let the cake cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then carefully turn it out onto a cooling rack. Once completely cooled, dust with powdered sugar or serve as is.
Recipe Tips
Chocolate beet cake is simple, but a few small details can make a big difference.
- One of the things I find really helpful is to prep everything ahead of time. Measure, chop, purée, and then bake. It makes the whole process feel calm instead of rushed.
- Preheat your oven fully so the cake bakes evenly.
- Use smooth beet purée to avoid any chunks in the batter.
- Bring ingredients to room temperature for the best texture.
- Do not overmix or the cake can become dense.
- If you have ever pulled a cake out of the pan and had it stick or break apart, parchment paper is a simple step that saves a lot of frustration.
Serving Suggestions
This chocolate beet cake really shines in its simplicity.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.
- Pair with a strong cup of coffee or tea.
- Add a dollop of whipped cream or this homemade ice cream recipe for ice cream maker for a special treat.
- Serve alongside fresh berries or freeze-dried berries for a bright contrast.
Storage Instructions
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days
- Refrigerate for up to 5 days if needed
- Freeze for up to 2 months, wrapped well
If freezing, I like to slice it first so I can pull out just what we need. It makes those busy days feel a little more manageable.
The Homestead Kitchen
This recipe for chocolate beet cake was featured in issue No. 38 of the Homestead Kitchen magazine. This is the magazine we wish we had when we first started homesteading!
I wanted to make healthy, delicious meals from scratch that my family loved, but Better Homes & Gardens didn’t really prepare me for the overwhelming abundance of the seasonal, homesteading life.
What do you do with all those eggs? Those bushels of green beans? That 25-lb bag of wheat berries? Or all that basil?
We started publishing the Homestead Kitchen magazine to give homesteaders an affordable, inspiring read chock-full of the BEST recipes, DIY projects, and tips to make homesteading doable and FUN.
Now, the Homestead Kitchen magazine is available in print! So subscribe today and start enjoying this magazine in the palm of your hand.
Did you try this chocolate beet cake recipe? If so, please leave a star ⭐ rating and your comments in the recipe card below. Then snap a photo and tag us on social media @homesteadingfamily so we can see!
Chocolate Beet Cake
Equipment
- 9" Round Cake Pan
- Electric Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Measuring Utensils
- spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup beet purée You can use freshly cooked beets or canned beets.
- ¼ cup butter melted (We love this homemade butter recipe.)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¾ cup sugar or ¼ cup white sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup honey
- 2 Tablespoons coffee strongly brewed
- 1 whole egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour plus 2 Tablespoons (or your favorite 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus 2 Tablespoons
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Grease and line a 9” round cake pan with parchment paper. Set pan aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, oil, sugars, honey, coffee, egg, and vanilla until fully combined.
- Fold beet purée into liquid ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring with a spatula to integrate, then add the remaining dry ingredients and stir until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Use a spatula to smooth the top of the batter, then place the cake in the preheated oven.
- Bake cake for 25-30 minutes, removing from the oven when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out of the cake mostly crumb-free.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then run a knife along the edge of the pan and invert it on a cooling rack. Leave the cake to cool completely.
- Once cooled, ice cake or dust with powdered sugar as desired and serve.
Notes
- One of the things I find really helpful is to prep everything ahead of time. Measure, chop, purée, and then bake. It makes the whole process feel calm instead of rushed.
- Preheat your oven fully so the cake bakes evenly.
- Use smooth beet purée to avoid any chunks in the batter.
- Bring ingredients to room temperature for the best texture.
- Do not overmix or the cake can become dense.
- If you have ever pulled a cake out of the pan and had it stick or break apart, parchment paper is a simple step that saves a lot of frustration.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.
- Pair with a strong cup of coffee or tea.
- Add a dollop of whipped cream or this homemade ice cream recipe for ice cream maker for a special treat.
- Serve alongside fresh berries or freeze-dried berries for a bright contrast.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days
- Refrigerate for up to 5 days if needed
- Freeze for up to 2 months, wrapped well
