Recipe: Absolutely Divine Devil's Food Cake with Fudge Frosting (using beets)

Absolutely Divine Devil's Food Cake (using beets)
Source: The Dessert Lover's Cookbook by Marlene Sorosky (Harper and Row)

CAKE
3 squares (3 oz) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 can (8 1/4 oz) julienne beets
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

FUDGE FROSTING
2 cups whipping cream
1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla

BAKING PAN

CAKE
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease bottom and sides of two (9 x 1 1/2 inch or 9 x 2 inch) round layer cake pans. Dust with flour and shake out excess.

Melt chocolate in double boiler over hot water. Set aside to cool slightly.

Drain beet juice into small bowl. Place beets on cutting board and chop into very small pieces. Add to beet juice and set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until very fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping sides occasionally. Reduce speed to low and beat in melted chocolate.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium-size bowl. With mixer on low speed, alternately beat flour in fourths and buttermilk in thirds into chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add beets and juice and beat at medium speed until blended, about 1 minute. The batter will be thin and you will see pieces of beets.

Divide the batter equally between the two prepared pans. Bake in the 350 oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. DO NOT OVERBAKE or cake will be dry. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes and then invert onto racks. If desired, cake layers may be wrapped in foil and kept at room temperature overnight, or they may be frozen. Defrost wrapped cake at room temperature before frosting.

FROSTING
Heat cream in a medium-size saucepan just until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate and vanilla, stirring until mixture is smooth and chocolate is melted.

Transfer mixture to a plastic or glass bowl (not metal) and refrigerate, stirring every 10 minutes until mixture is thick as pudding, about 50 to 60 minutes.

At this point, the frosting will begin to set up very quickly. Leave in refrigerator and stir every 5 minutes until frosting is as thick as fudge, about 15 more minutes. Alternatively, the frosting may be placed over ice water and stirred constantly until spreading consistency. If it begins to get too thick, remove it from the water.

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer top-side down on serving platter. Spread with a third of the frosting and top with the second layer, bottom-side up. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides. Let stand at room temperature for frosting to set.

The frosted cake may be held at room temperature, uncovered, overnight or refrigerated up to two days.