ABC - September 2018: Beet and Ginger Cake

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since my last blog post. What can I say? Life happens! :)

This month's ABC recipe was an interesting one: Beet and Ginger Cake. The recipe also calls for cream cheese frosting, but I chose to leave the cake "naked". I played a little bit with the recipe and made several tweaks which you'll find below.

Moist and flavorful (and nut-free)!

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

The kitchen smelled wonderful while this cake was baking. The candied ginger, warm spices and orange zest filled the kitchen air. Unfortunately, I couldn't taste it the same day, because it came out of the oven less than an hour before bed time.

Bon Appetit!

Final thoughts/tips:

• When I took my first bite, I could taste the ginger, the orange zest and the spices immediately. I couldn't taste the beets at all. It reminded me of a fruit cake or Xmas cake, without being dry.
• Hubby enjoyed it too. Considering it contains almost 50% whole wheat, it came out remarkably moist and soft. He gave it a 9 out of 10 rating!
• A couple slices were frozen for later consumption. It tasted just as good as day 1.
• Leftovers were taken to work. Some people were skeptical, especially those who really dislike beets. I can say that all were won over and loved the cake!
• I think this recipe would lend itself well to substituting the beets with other fruits and/or vegetables. With fall around the corner, I think this recipe might work with shredded apples. In the summer, I would consider using shredded zucchini.
• Another consideration is to bake this into muffins.
• Update 10/7/2018: made this cake again but without the candied ginger (I didn't have any). Instead, I used 1-1/4 tsp ground ginger. I added 2-3 Tbsp milk to the batter in the end. Baked the batter in a 9" x 9" square pan for 22-25 min in a 350 F oven.

Beet and Ginger cake
(adapted from David Lebovitz' blog, who in turn adapted it from "Sweet" by Yotam Ottolenghi)

Dry ingredients (sift together):

• 100 gr all-purpose flour
• 85 gr whole wheat flour
• 15 gr cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

• 120 gr granulated sugar
• 1 packet vanilla sugar (8 gr)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 100 gr canola oil
• 60 gr sour cream or plain yogurt, room temperature

Mix-ins:

• 50 gr finely chopped candied ginger
• 50 gr craisins (dried and sweetened cranberries)
• 260 gr grated beets (used pre-cooked organic beets)
• Zest from 1 large navel orange

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Grease and flour an 8" round or square pan. I used a star-shaped pan that I bought a long time ago and never used before (from IKEA).
3. Have ready two bowls: one for dry ingredients and one for wet ingredients.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, gently combine all the ingredients together.
5. Add in the mix-ins and gently stir to combine.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
7. Bake for 40 min, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs (not raw batter).
8. Remove cake from pan and cool on wire rack.