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Beetroot Chocolate Cake

If you haven’t yet discovered the wonderful cake combination that is beetroot and chocolate, this is the perfect introductory recipe. Try it with a dollop of crème fraîche.

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Beetroot and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 515 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Beetroot Chocolate Cake

Serves 6
Prep30 min
Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

890Calories
21 gProtein
32 gFat
126 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
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Beetrootnot in our table0
Coffeenot in our table0

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

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Beetroot + flourtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together515 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Cocoa powder + creamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together826 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

Swap the beetroot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, chocolate, flour, cocoa powder, egg, sugar, cream):

  1. Arrowrootfits about as well
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Sweet potatofits about as well
  4. Beetrootthe original

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