Name: Chocolate Beetroot Cake
Ingredients: 75 g good quality cocoa powder (I used Hershey's cocoa); 180 g plain flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 250 g caster sugar (super fine sugar); 250 g cooked fresh beetroots; 3 large eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 200 ml corn or sunflower oil; icing sugar (confectioners sugar, to dust)

Why it works: Cocoa and vanilla work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 357 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

Oven180°C (350°F)

Time50–60 minutes

Ingredients

75 g good quality cocoa powder (I used Hershey's cocoa)
180 g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
250 g caster sugar (super fine sugar)
250 g cooked fresh beetroots
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200 ml corn or sunflower oil
icing sugar (confectioners sugar, to dust)

Directions

Prepare

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
Lightly butter a 25 cm round or square cake pan.
Sift cocoa powder, flour and baking powder into a large bowl.
Stir in sugar and set aside.
Puree cooked beetroot in a food processor.

Make the batter

Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
Add vanilla and oil and whisk until smooth.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, stir in the beetroot mixture, and lightly mix.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 50–60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
If the cake begins to brown, cover it lightly with foil after about 30 minutes.
It won't rise a great deal, and the top might crack.

Cool and serve

Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Can be served with fresh whipped cream or crème fraîche or just delicious plain.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

826Calories

24 gProtein

16 gFat

143 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Beetroot	not in our table	0
Sunflower Oil	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Cocoa + vanillatop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together357 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Flour + beetroottop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together515 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla + corntop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,943 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Beetroot + corntop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together82 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure and richness as the cake sets.
Plain flour: Forms the gluten network that gives the cake its structure.
Baking powder: Releases gas during baking to lift the batter, though the cake rises only modestly.
Caster sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps tenderise its crumb.
Cooked beetroot: Adds moisture and an earthy sweetness, and helps keep the crumb moist.
Corn or sunflower oil: Provides fat that keeps the cake moist and tender after baking.

The step that matters

Watching the bake and browning. The batter is wet and dark, so the top can brown quickly before the centre sets. Covering it with foil after about 30 minutes prevents over-browning, and testing with a skewer confirms the centre is cooked through.

Swap the cocoa

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cocoa powder, flour, sugar, beetroot, egg, vanilla, corn):

Hazelnutfits better
Almondfits better
Chestnutfits better
Cocoathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cocoa powder, flour, sugar, beetroot, egg, vanilla, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes

Corn Cake90 recipes

Corn Starch Cake89 recipes

Coconut Pudding26 recipes

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Chocolate Beetroot Cake