When I do a recipe for the blog, I like to come up with my own unique recipes. Sometimes, I’m pretty confident things will turn out well; other times, I’m shocked if it’s edible. Do you ever have one of those days when you start something and then wonder if you should be doing it? Like you forget to take your margarine out to soften. Then every time you try letting go of the spoon to measure your next ingredient, the spoon falls down into the batter. No? Me either. Actually, that’s exactly what happened when I decided to try my Chocolate Macaroon Beet Cake.
After creaming the butter and sugar and mixing in the liquid stuff and the beets, I might have noticed that I hadn’t mashed all the beets really well and had to pick the chunks out to finish smashing.
Then I put the cocoa into all the liquid stuff, and decided maybe I should have put the flour in first because the cocoa and the batter were kind of like oil and water and refused to mix. I tried using the electric mixer, and that just sent plumes of cocoa into the air. So I added the flour and everything mixed perfectly then.
The macaroon filling was easy peasy! No problems mixing it up.
Then I couldn’t decide how to bake it. I like easy flat cake pans, but I was struggling with how to get the macaroon filling in each piece of cake. I could drop a spoonfull into each piece, but that would require precise cutting, and I’m questionable at cutting a straight line on a good day. I could just drizzle it everywhere randomly. Then how would I cover it? I finally decided I had to go with the bundt pan, which is traditional for a macaroon cake. That meant going to the basement and finding it and removing all the dead bugs and washing, and I finally got to the point where I could use the pan!
I know the picture is out of order, but I really was just trying to get this done without thinking of all the pictures I would need.
I almost forgot to grease and flour it, but luckily I remembered in time. Don’t worry. If I hadn’t, I’d have eaten the cake out of the pan. Seriously. After greasing and flouring the pan, I put half my batter in. I thought I did well because I only had one drip through the hole in the middle of the pan.
I spooned my macaroon filling on top.
Then I covered it with the rest of the cake batter. I might have dripped a couple more times, but that just let me have a chance to taste the batter and make my predictions on how the cake will turn out.
The bundt pan also means I had to dig through the cupboards and find my cake platter, and that meant more bug removal and washing before I could use it. But…
It’s blog worthy! Seriously. It turned out amazingly well considering it was not really one of my better baking days.
It is a rich decadant chocolate cake; the macaroon filling has a bit of tang, and the fudge sauce is yummy! I can honestly say that because my official taste tester mom said so too. Is there a better recommendation than “her mom said so?”
Macaroon Beet Cake
Cake batter:
1/2 C butter, softened
1 3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup beet puree
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
In large mixing pan, cream together butter, sugar and eggs. Add buttermilk, vanilla and beet puree. Add the dry ingredients and beat till smooth. Set aside.
Macaroon Filling:
8 oz chevre (or cream cheese)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
2 Cups coconut
Mix it all together.
Grease and flour a bundt pan. Pour half the cake batter into the pan. Spoon the macaroon filling around onto the center of the batter and cover with the rest of the batter. Bake in a 350*F oven for 45 – 55 minutes. When it is completely cooled, remove it from the pan and glaze with the fudge sauce.
Fudge Sauce:
In a double boiler, heat until everything is melted and smooth. Drizzle over the top of the cake.
3/4 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 Tbsp. margarine
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Teresa
