RECIPES

“Trick or Beet” Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Icing

With the Halloween season underway, it’s time for some scarily delicious treats! This “Trick or Beet” chocolate cake recipe is not only rich and decadent, but it also sneaks in a hidden vegetable for added moisture, natural sweetness, and a spooky dark red color: beets!

iNGREDIENTS

For the cake

SIMPLi Olive Oil Blend, plus more to oil the pan

Medium red beets

All-purpose flour

Light brown sugar

Granulated sugar

Cocoa powder

Baking soda

Diamond Crystal Kosher salt (use 1/2 teaspoon if using Morton)

Large eggs

Water

Vanilla

1/3 cup

4-5

2 cups

1 cup

1/2 cup

2 tsp

1 tsp

2 2/3 cup

1 tsp

For the chocolate buttercream

Unsalted butter, at room temperature

Cocoa powder

Powdered sugar

Vanilla extract

Whole milk, lukewarm

1/2 stick

1/4 cup

2 cups

1 tsp

1/4 cup

iNSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Trim and rinse the beets. Wrap the clean beats in a large piece of aluminum foil and fold to seal. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 45-60 minutes, or until tender. Remove the beets from the oven and allow them to cool. Leave the oven on.
Once the beets are cool enough to handle, carefully peel them using a paring knife. Do not discard any beet juices that pooled in the tinfoil: save them for decoration. Put the beets in a food processor or blender and pulse until you’ve created a relatively smooth beet purée. Measure out 1 1/4 cups beet purée. Save whatever beet purée is left for another use.
Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon SIMPLi Olive Oil Blend in the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan. Using a pastry brush, oil the bottom and sides of the pan. Make a 9-inch parchment paper round and line the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until combined. Add the eggs, SIMPLi Olive Oil Blend, water, and vanilla and whisk until just combined (be careful not to over-mix). Using a rubber spatula, scrape the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the top springs back when gently pressed with your fingertip, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before carefully inverting the cake onto a wire rack. Allow the cake to cool completely.
While the cake finishes cooling, make the frosting. In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add the cocoa powder and continue mixing until combined. Add the powdered sugar and mix until it begins to incorporate into the butter and cocoa powder mixture (it won’t incorporate fully at this point). With the mixer on low speed, slowly stream in the lukewarm milk. The frosting will seem too thin at first, but continue beating, increasing the speed to medium and then medium high, until it forms a smooth buttercream. If the frosting is too loose, add an additional 1/4 cup powdered sugar.
Once the cake is completely cool, add the frosting to the top. If serving during Spooky Season, dip a pastry brush in the reserved beet juice and use your finger to splatter drops of beet juice onto each serving plate. Enjoy!

And another secret ingredient that takes it to the next level? SIMPLi Olive Oil Blend. Known for its smooth, mild flavor, our olive oil blend is a fantastic choice for baking, offering a healthier alternative to canola or vegetable oil while keeping your cake moist and flavorful.

This Halloween, trick your taste buds with a cake that’s as unexpected as it is delicious! Perfect for Halloween parties or a special dessert, this scrumptious cake will certainly put a spell on your guests to make them come back for a second and third slice!

About the recipe

“One of my favorite root vegetables is beets, and I love experimenting with them in both savory and sweet applications. They add a tremendous richness to chocolate cake, in addition to helping keep baked goods nice and moist. This is my “spooky” take on a chocolate cake, which feels almost like a combination of chocolate cake and red velvet cake—but without any food dyes! SIMPLi’s Olive Oil Blend has quickly become one of my favorite oils to bake with—my cakes are always so moist with a rich flavor reminiscent of olive oil cakes. The buttercream on top is so creamy, rich, and smooth—I hope you’ll give this cake a try (…it’s delicious any time of year!). Happy Halloween!” - Barrett

About the Chef

Barrett Radziun is an enthusiastic home-baker and content creator residing north of Dallas, TX. Radziun’s passion for all things food-related began developing in childhood (his grandmothers’ cooking and baking were major influences on his culinary interests), but it wasn’t until graduate school that Radziun began to bake more seriously. During 2021, Radziun made it his New Year’s Resolution to bake through every recipe in Claire Saffitz’s book “Dessert Person,” recording photos and thoughts about each recipe on his Instagram account, @thetenorchef. Radziun’s online community of bakers and foodies has been growing ever since, and his content creation endeavors have led to collaborations with Betty Crocker, Vital Farms, Casablanca Market, Lifeway Foods, and many more! When he isn’t in the kitchen, Dr. Radziun is a college music professor and professional classical singer.

For more delicious baked goods and recipe inspiration, be sure to follow Barrett on Instagram!

Be sure to stock up on SIMPLi olive oils, now available across all Whole Foods Markets nationwide! Find a store near you.

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