Beet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

If you like carrot cake, then you'll love this unusual dessert. The batter is bright red but bakes to a golden brown. You may want to wear an apron while grating the beets because they tend to splatter.

Yield: 18 servings (serving size: 1 piece)

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1  pound  beets (about 2 medium)
• Cooking spray
• 2/3  cup  granulated sugar
• 2/3  cup  packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2  cup  vegetable oil
• 2  large eggs
• 2 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 2  teaspoons  baking powder
• 1  teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  cup  1% low-fat milk
• 
  Frosting:
• 2  teaspoons  grated orange rind
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1  (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, chilled
• 3  cups  sifted powdered sugar
• 2  tablespoons  finely chopped walnuts, toasted

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, peel beets using a vegetable peeler. Grate beets, using the large holes of a grater, to measure 2 cups.

Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray; line bottoms with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray.

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well-blended. Add beets; beat well. Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pans; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks; remove from pans. Carefully peel off wax paper, and cool cake completely on wire racks.

To prepare frosting, beat orange rind, vanilla, and cream cheese with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar; beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat).

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting; top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle nuts over top of cake. Store cake loosely covered in refrigerator.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

312 (30% from fat)

Fat:

10.5g (sat 3.3g,mono 3g,poly 3.6g)

Protein:

4.5g

Carbohydrate:

51.2g

Fiber:

0.7g

Cholesterol:

34mg

Iron:

1.4mg

Sodium:

198mg

Calcium:

65mg