Emma’s Vanilla Beet Cake (Gluten-Free)
You know how Red Velvet cakes have been all the rage these past few years? That bold red color certainly makes a statement and looks so inviting. When I realized it was only vanilla cake dyed with red food dye, it totally lost its luster for me. A cake filled with artificial dyes that can be harmful to some people just doesn’t get me all that excited, to tell you the truth, no matter how cute it is. In fact, now, every time I see a recipe for Red Velvet Cake, I get a little angry, now it makes me SEE red! So imagine how intrigued I was when I heard about this cake from a fellow CSA member. A red colored cake that was made with natural ingredients, and gives you the nutritional benefit of the beautiful beets as opposed to filling your body with a large dose of chemicals in every bite.
This is a beautiful, unique and delicious cake recipe that was created by one of our fabulous CSA farmers, Emma. Emma and Ben planted a wonderful CSA for us, their members, this year. Even though we grew our own garden, it wasn’t big enough to allow for extra to preserve and we all know how much I love preserving! This was their first year doing a CSA and they did a perfect job! If you are a local, please check out Hatch Brook Gardens for next year – this young and very talented couple would appreciate your support!
You can see Emma’s Original Recipe here, but I had to modify it a bit to make it gluten free. It is a wonderfully moist cake that I think would lend itself beautifully to a nice cream cheese frosting. You don’t taste the beets in it, if anything; the beets add an extra wonderful earthy sweetness. If you really want to wow your guests this holiday season, this cake will do it! 🙂
INGREDIENTS:
For the Cake:
2 C beet puree – I roasted the beets at 400 for about 40 minutes and then pureed, roasting brings out the natural sugars in the beets.
1 ½ C GF oat flour
1 C coconut flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 ½ cups pure maple syrup
½ C melted butter or coconut oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
¼ tsp. cinnamon
For the Glaze:
¼ c melted butter
¼ c melted coconut oil
¼ c maple syrup
Maple confectioner’s sugar to dust
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix all the cake ingredients together in one bowl. Emma suggests you use your “batter intuition” if it looks loose, add more flour and baking powder to match. Then pour into a prepared cake pan (I used a traditional round). Bake at 375 F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool a little bit. I didn’t and so my frosting just kind of sunk into the cake, which wasn’t too terrible of a thing to happen! 🙂
For the frosting, Emma mixes together 1/2 cup of butter, maple, and confectioners’ sugar and applies it when the cake is still warm so it melts in to a glaze. I liked the addition of a bit of coconut oil as well and I used maple confectioners’ sugar.
I think it would be wonderful to double the recipe and make a layer cake with cream cheese- maple frosting. At least that is what I am doing next! 🙂
Enjoy!
Rosa - November 14, 2011 at 2:12 pm
An interesting cake! I’ve never heard of coconut flour before…
Cheers,
Rosa
Meike Shaffer - November 14, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Lovely color. I think my daughters & nieces will love this cake for their Breaking Dawn (Twilight) party before the midnight premiere Thursday night. LOL
crankycheryl - November 14, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Jenn! So beautiful! Yours is so much lovelier than the one I attempted in the natural-red-velvet spirit a couple years back. (And lovely to hear about another great CSA farm always.)
Brittany - November 14, 2011 at 4:07 pm
As a mama with two boys sensitive to Red 40, the Red Velvet trend drives me crazy. (Not to mention the deceit of it being vanilla cake with red coloring!) I’ll have to give this one a try. We love beets anyway. 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe!
Simone - November 14, 2011 at 4:37 pm
I have never tasted red velvet cake but was always intrigued with the color.Not knowing that it was just artificial coloring.. I was reading your post and thought immediately that it looks like the color of beets. That appears to be true then..lol.. Love the look of this. So gorgeous in color and so lovely moist!
ValleyWriter - November 14, 2011 at 4:53 pm
I never understood why people go gaga over red velvet cake, especially since I knew it was just food coloring. However, I am very intrigued to try a beet cake – sounds interesting!
Lindsay - November 15, 2011 at 10:42 am
As far as I understood it, a traditional red velvet cake is, in fact, one that has cocoa powder, beet root juice (for that deep umber red), vinegar and buttermilk. And it’s delicious. I think the vanilla-red-food color cake is an unfortunate industrial approximation brought on by box-cake phenoms.
Your beet cake is a very pretty pink, though. 🙂
Arlene (Mom) - November 15, 2011 at 2:38 pm
When I saw BEET cake I thought NO SHE DIDN’T. But wow, what a good idea. I am not one for adding food coloring either. Brilliant!
Michelle - November 15, 2011 at 4:41 pm
I’m going to second Lindsay, every RV cake I’ve ever made had the cocoa, but this does look like a fun cake to try.
Sylvia@bascooking - November 16, 2011 at 5:56 am
I had already thought about making the red velvet with beet instead food coloring (argh).But I never thought of gluten free. Brilliant idea , Jenn
Miz Helen - November 16, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I make a beet cake from time to time and we really enjoy it. Emma’s Vanilla Beet Cake looks so moist and delicious I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing and hope you are having a wonderful day!
Miz Helen
Maryann - November 16, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Looking for a post about your critters! How are they doing?
Ben - November 16, 2011 at 10:53 pm
I knew it was going to be a beet cake. Nothing makes things redder than beets and the best part is that they’re delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Jenn!
hungryandfrozen - November 20, 2011 at 2:40 pm
That colour is amazing! I don’t really ‘get’ Red Velvet Cake, like, I’m supposed to be excited because it’s got red food colouring in it? (although they are really pretty.) I like this updated version and think it’d definitely be good with cream cheese icing 🙂
Pam Barone - March 31, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Red Velvet cake properly made is not vanilla, its cocoa. There’s a chemical reaction that makes the red color. The best ones are frosted with a cooked vanilla frosting, not a cream cheese frosting.
If you’re ever fortunate enough to have a true Red Velvet you’ll be glad you did.
This cake looks wonderful, too. I am going to find some coconut flour and give it a whirl.
Laura - March 31, 2012 at 3:58 pm
I have to try this! I have been making red velvet cake for Christmas for 15 years and my recipe is definitely not vanilla cake. Granted it is an old recipe but it has cocoa in it. Anyway now that I am gf I can try this.
han lee - March 31, 2012 at 6:37 pm
This sounds great! I have always wanted to make a beet cake.
DaynawithaY - March 31, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Seconding (thirding?) Lindsay. Homemade red velvet cakes from my childhood were always made with cocoa powder and other yummy goodness. I don’t know what commercial RV cakes are made with nowadays, but RV cakes from yesteryear aren’t just fluffy nothingness. 🙂
Sara - April 1, 2012 at 7:18 am
Can’t wait to make these into cupcakes for my soon-to-be six year old daughter’s Beauty Parlour birthday party
Phaedra Wilkinson - August 22, 2012 at 6:41 pm
My mom always made red velvet cake. It did have red food coloring, and cocoa and a lot of oil. I like that this one is gluten free! Thanks for sharing!