Dude. What can I say about this cake? Let me just get one thing out of the way. It’s a beet chocolate cake topped with avocado chocolate frosting. I know. If I can eat my cake and get my super foods at the same time, why wouldn’t I? Better yet, if my kids can eat their cake and get their super foods at the same time, why wouldn’t I stuff my cake and frosting with beets and avocado? Save This Recipe! Enter your email and I'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you'll get new recipes from me every week! By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Happy Healthy Mama.
Besides, I was very upfront about this cake being full of beets. We had a conversation about wether you could taste the beets in the cake at the table. For the record, Meghan proclaimed, “I can’t taste beets at all!” I promise you that even though this dessert has beets and avocado, it does not taste like salad. The cake is moist, lightly sweet, with a complex chocolate flavor. The creamy frosting is rich and deceivingly fudge-like. 
Look at the beautiful color of the batter before baking! I was in a rush to get it in the oven so it would bake before I had to pick Meghan up from school, so I plopped it in front of the window and had no time to find something to diffuse the harsh light. But I just had to let you see the lovely deep purplish red color the beets make the batter. It bakes into a deep chocolate brown color, as you can see in the pictures, but it sure is a pretty hue when it’s raw! If you’re going to have dessert, why not have a dessert that gives your body nutrients it needs to function the way it should? You can’t say that about a standard chocolate cake made with white flour and white sugar and doesn’t have any trace of super foods. In case you need more convincing, let’s look at what beets and avocado can do for your health:
Beets
- Provide cancer-fighting antioxidants. Every single person on this Earth needs all the cancer fighting help they can get.
- Good source of potassium, which helps vital organs run properly.
- Good source of iron, which boosts the immune system and is vital in regulating cell growth
- Excellent source of vitamin C, which can help immune system function AND help your body absorb iron
- Full of phytochemicals, which repair and protect our DNA and protects from chronic diseases
- Great source of vitamin A, which is important for the health of our eyes, skin, teeth, and bones
- Good source of folate, which is vital for making blood cells, building muscles, and keeping your cardiovascular system healthy
Avocado
- More potassium than a banana, which, again, helps vital organs run properly
- Healthy fats that increase good cholesterol levels
- Good source of vitamin E, which supports your immune system function and protects our body tissue from free radicals
- Good source of vitamin B6, which plays a strong role in cognitive development
See? You can get all of that awesomeness from a dessert! I hope I’ve convinced you that you really need to give this Super Foods Chocolate Cake a try! If you can’t do avocado frosting, splurge and make this Chocolate Ganache recipe. You’ve got the superfoods in the cake, so why not?!
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Super Foods Chocolate Cake
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: Makes 1 square 9'' cake 1x
Description
Superfoods Chocolate Cake. Why not have your cake and eat your vegetables at the same time. This beet chocolate cake with avocado chocolate frosting is moist, decadent, yet full of nutrients!
Ingredients
For the cake
- 4 medium beets
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 3/4 cup sucanat or organic sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
for the frosting
- 2 avocados, pit removed and flesh scraped out
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips, melted (optional)
for the topping
- 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- First, prepare your beets. This can be done ahead of time. Alternatively, you may try to used canned beets, although I haven’t tried this, I assume it would work. Edited to add: A reader informed me that canned beets may be too salty, so if you want to cut on prep time look for precooked beets in the fresh produce section. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub your beets and then wrap them individually in tin foil. Place them on a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven until they are soft, about 1 hour. Allow them to cool. Once they are cool, the skin comes off easily with a paring knife. Cut the beets into chunks and then puree them using a food processor or blender. You will need 1 cup of beet puree. Reserve any extra puree for another use. (Beet smoothie?!)
- For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in the eggs, warm water, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and 1 cup beet puree. Mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then turn out the cake from the pan and allow it to cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting, use a blender or food processor to combine the avocado, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and melted chocolate chips, if using. I find a small blender (like a Magic Bullet) works best to get the avocado and smooth as possible. Frost the cake and top with additional chocolate chips, if using. Enjoy!
Notes
Cake recipe adapted (err…healthified) from Martha Stewart’s Beet Chocolate Cake recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 of 12 servings
- Calories: 382
- Sugar: 21.8g
- Sodium: 338.9mg
- Fat: 12.4g
- Carbohydrates: 68.3g
- Protein: 7g
Regarding the frosting, which I used on the black bean brownies…Since I have a good amount left over, can it be stored in the fridge? If so, for how long?
Thanks so much!
Yes you can store it in the fridge. I would guess it will be good for a few days.
I would like to know if the coconut oil can be replaced with another oil, such as avocado oil.
Yes that would work!
The cake was super moist and delicious and the frosting was smooth and delicious (I added a tad bit of raw honey to bring the sweetness level up a little to my taste preference). Thank you for the recipe
Thanks for your feedback, Louise! I really appreciate it and I’m glad you enjoyed this.
Maryea, I HAVE to thank you for this recipe. I made it for my son’s first birthday today. My Luke (like yours!) has a dairy intolerance so I was looking for something dairy-free and thought I’d got all-in with this cake. I doubled the recipe and made a small smash cake and a 9×13. It turned out fabulous. No one could guess the secret ingredients!
That is so great to hear!! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
I have to make this! I am all about the wellness-enhancing dessert – Life is so much sweeter when you can feel good and get your chocolate fix too : )
Exactly. 🙂
Wow I would have never thought to add beets or avocado to a chocolate cake. What an awesome idea!! Thanks for sharing.
I don’t think like a normal person. 😉 This is what happens when you get 5 large beets in your CSA box week after week…
You have SERIOUSLY outdone yourself!! Beets AND avocado!? I’m obsessed! Pinned 🙂
This is a amazing recipe, The photos of the cake pre cooked are beautiful. Hope you had fun shooting hoops this morning. IG.
Thanks Elizabeth. I did have fun playing bball. 🙂 Pretty much my favorite way to get a workout in.
FYI – canned beets are VERY salty so may affect the flavor. The prepared beets by Love Beets (in the produce section) are closer to “regular” beet flavor/texture, imo.
Oooh–thanks for the heads up! I will edit my post to indicate that. I haven’t had canned beets since my Thanksgivings of yesteryear and so I wouldn’t remember that.
Do you think the whole wheat pastry flour could be subbed w/ a mixture of almond/coconut flour? I’d love to try this out. It looks amazing! I’m totally craving a slice right now.
I try subbing almond and coconut flour into baked goods often, but with very mixed results! What I don’t have down is the ratio. If you do give it a try, please let me know how it turns out!
Oh my goodness, beets? I never would have imagined!! This cake looks amazing, and I’d be dying to try it, but can YOU taste the beets? My man can’t stand them; hates them; even throws up when eating them (cooked) so I wonder if I could get away with this. Not that I would want to torture him…but look at this cake!? I have to make it!
Ok…so here’s how it went down. There were 6 of us eating this cake. My two kids Meghan and Luke, my husband Tim, and my mother in law all said they could not taste the beets. (Tim hates beets, too.) Me and my father in law could taste the beet flavor. But not a strong beet flavor, just a hint. And it was almost a sweetness that complimented the chocolate flavor, if that makes sense. So 4/6 could not taste the beets at all. I also eat a ton of beets, so maybe that’s why I could detect them? Either way, it’s delicious!
Fantastic review! 😉 4 out of 6 isn’t bad at all! I made zucchini brownies once where no one could taste them except him, so I’m thinking he would get the hint of beets, but maybe it would just be in the sweetness, not so much “oh my gosh, there’s beets in here, I’m going to die” kind of way. Or at least, that’s what I’m hoping. haha Thanks for your input!