Sambuca Beet Cake

I was in search of something nice to the smell and gentle to the look. It turns out that things didn’t go the way I expected. What I mean is that I was hoping that the beets cake would turn red velvet, but it did not at the end. However, the taste was really nice, considering that I have topped it with some liquor. 

Well, let aside the colour failure, I think the taste and the texture of this cake was satisfactory! Plus... Beets are really healthy vegetables, rich in iron, but not everyone likes it. To make it more acceptable to some palates, I understood that adding cocoa and liquor to it would wear off the earthy taste and allow those who are not fond of beets to, hopefully, learn to enjoy it gradually.  

Ingredients:

(cake)

65g granulated sugar

65g butter

3 eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

1 small beet

1 cup of milk

300g all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

3 tsp cocoa powder

1/3 cup yogurt

Sambuca con Piacere Liquor ( about 2 tbsp)

(glaze)

1 tsp Cocoa

3 tbsp Milk

1 cup Icing sugar

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Sift it to obtain a finer texture and to prevent cocoa powder chunks.

2. Preheat the oven at 350°F. Grease the pan of choice, I have personally used the bundt cake pan.

3. In a mixer, blend the granulated sugar with the butter until it becomes fluffy.

4. In a blender, cut the beet into tiny pieces and beat it. Add milk in so that it becomes a juice.

5. In the mixture of butter and sugar, add the eggs and vanilla extract. When everything looks fluffy, add in the beets juice.

6. Add in the combination of dried ingredients indicated in (1). It is better mixing by hand using a spatula. Place it in the greased pan. Bake it for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

7. When retrieving the cake out of the oven, make sure to tap the bottom so that the hot air comes out and that the cake remains in its form. Reverse the pan to shake the cake out.

8. While the cake is still warm, brush some Sambuca con Piacere on the cake. Beware of the magically tempting smell of the cake!

11. Let it sit for 5 minutes so that the cake absorbs the liquor. Meanwhile you can prepare the glaze. Then spread it over the cake.

12. Add some hazelnuts (or any type of nut) and then let the cake sit for at least 4 hours before serving it. It lets enough time for the alcohol to settle down.

Good luck and enjoy!