Red Velvet Cake

Long before red food coloring, beets were the magic ingredient.  Ammen just celebrated a birthday, and we have an abundance of beets in the garden this year.  Naturally his birthday cake was a red velvet cake dyed with beets. 

The beets combined with the applesauce provide a sweet yet earthy flavor and a moist texture.  I frosted these cakes with a honey cream cheese icing because my husband will eat nothing else, but I personally think the icing was a bit strong for such simple cake.  If I make this recipe again for a different occasion I would do a simple honey butter icing or just serve the naked cake. 

As you can see, the batter of this cake is a brilliant magenta color.  After baking, the cake gradually turns to more of a brick red.  Unfortunately, I was too excited to eat the cake and didn't take a picture until most of the cake and color was gone.  The dyes faded more and more as the evening went on.   If you want to have the most red possible, bake this cake as close to the serving time as you can.  Luckily, the flavor and texture never faded.

Red Velvet Cake (With Beets)

Whenever possible, it's always best to purchase organic ingredients.  This is especially important when purchasing dairy products and eggs.  

 

Ingredients:

6 beets

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup plain yogurt

2 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup spelt flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Place beets in a pot and cover with water, boil until soft (about 30 minutes), allow them to cool.  Peel the beets and chopped coarsely.  Combine chopped cooked beets and applesauce in a blender and blend until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round layer pans.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla, and then the beet mixture, mixing well.  Add the lemon juice and the yogurt and mix well again.

In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa powder, baking soda, flour, and salt together. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until well blended.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing from pans and allowing to cool completely.  Once the cakes are cool, frost them.

Honey Cream Cheese Icing

2 pkgs of cream cheese (8oz pkg)

1/4 cup local honey

1 Tbsp vanilla

Blend until smooth.  When the cakes are cool, spread with a rubber spatula on one cake.  Stack the cakes, and spread icing on the top. 

Nutrition

For the nutrition information on beets check out the post on Rosemary Red Soup.

Rest assured that cocoa does indeed have nutritional benefits.  As you can tell intuitively, chocolate is a natural anti-depressant, it's also very high in antioxidants and magnesium.  Antioxidants help fight free-radicals in our body, ultimately preventing inflammation and disease states (such as cancer).  Magnesium has a blood pressure lowering affect and is vital for our digestive, cardiovascular, and neurological systems. If you really want your fill on all the benefits of chocolate, you might enjoy the Theo Chocolate Tour.  There you'll get to taste all the chocolate you can dream of, and learn about this treasured food. 

I chose to use half spelt flour in the recipe rather than all-purpose wheat or even whole wheat.  Spelt is a grain that does have gluten, making it easy to bake with, but is more easily digestible than its typically overeaten relative, wheat.  Spelt is an ancient grain, and is thought to be an ancestor grain before wheat was hybridized.  Its is a great source of Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and Vitamin B3 (niacin) and manganese as well as insoluble fiber. 

Rosemary Beet Soup

Happy Equinox!    Today is shorter than yesterday, and it marks the official first day of "soup season" in the GardenHouse.  There's already a difference in the air,  a sharp coolness that marks the change of  season.  As the winds blow in the cold wetness, the flowers go to seed, and leaves of the plants die back, returning their nutrients to the soil.  In order to have enough nutrients to live through the winter, the plant's vital energy is sent to their roots.   

In Chinese medicine, the most important quality for food-as-medicine is the "thermal nature."   When cooling foods (i.e: raw salads, cucumbers, and apples) are eaten, they support the body's ability to cool by directing the energy and fluids inward towards our core.  When warming foods are eaten, energy and blood are pushed up and out to the surface of the body.  Vegetables that take longer to grow tend to be "warmer" foods (i.e: root vegetables, cabbages, hot peppers).  Root vegetables store heat over the many months they take to mature, making Autumn a perfect time for harvesting roots for warmth, sweetness, and nutrition.

Rosemary Beet Soup
This recipe is made with a combination of legumes, herbs and roots and offers a deep, satisfying taste.  My favorite feature about this soup is its vibrant red color coming in and going out. ;-)


Makes 6-8 servings

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 beets, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried

1 tablespoon fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried

1 cup dried red lentils

2 bay leaves

1 tsp red pepper flakes

6 cups water or stock

2-3 tablespoons light miso

Heat oil in a soup pot; add onion and sauté until soft.  Scrub and chop the carrots and beets. Add carrots and beets; sauté a few minutes more. Wash and drain lentils. If using fresh herbs, finely chop rosemary and oregano leaves.  Add herbs, lentils, bay leaves, pepper flakes and water or stock to onion mix; bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer about 40 minutes.  Remove bay leaves.  Remove 1 cup of soup water and dissolve the miso paste into it, add it back to pot.  It's important not to boil the soup after the miso is put in or it damages the microbes that are oh-so-good for you.  Puree soup (I prefer to use an inversion blender).  Serve warm or cold. 

Nutrition
Beets have long been valued as a blood tonic, and are rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, carotein, B complex and vitamin C.  Beets also offer us a bonus that not all root vegetables do, the beet greens are edible and offer the many nutritional benefits too.  The bitter greens are also a great compliment to the sweet earthy root.  

Carrots maybe the most popular, versatile, and nutritious vegetables.  They are a rich source of carotenoids, B vitamins, phosphorus, calcium, and iodine.

The lentils in this recipe provide the protein foundation that should be a component of every meal.  The lowly lentil has nourished people across the globe since the beginning of time.  Lentils are high in minerals, calcium, potassium, zinc, B vitamins, and iron.  

Using red lentils with red beets and orange carrots will help emphasize the robust color provided by the carotene and betanin antioxidants in the root vegetables. The deep red color that makes this soup so extravagant is responsible for improving circulation and purifying our blood.

An entire post is necessary to justify the seemingly endless benefits of using fermented foods such as the ancient food, miso.  In short, it is high in amino acids (building blocks of protein), vitamin B12 and lactobacillus (which aids in digestion and nutrient assimilation).  Historically, miso is noted to contribute to longevity and overall good health.  

Go ahead, try this soup, do it!