Golden Beetroot Cake
With its bright colour, flavour and wholesome ingredients, this orange-infused golden beetroot cake is a delightful twist on a classic sponge. The subtle sweetness of golden beets is enhanced by zesty hints of orange and the whole is topped with a light but zippy icing.
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Now why is it I’m so useless at taking note of recipes? I pride myself on never following a recipe and using it for inspiration or guidance only. But sometimes it’s quite a useful technique. The moment I saw Dom’s golden cake post I was almost gagging to make it. Trust Dom to come up with such an inspirational recipe.
Dive Right In
- Golden Beets
- Golden Beetroot Cake
- Golden Beetroot Cake – My Way
- Update
- Ingredients
- How To Make Golden Beetroot Cake
- Other Vegetable Cake Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Pin It
- The Recipe
Golden Beets
Did you know that beetroot doesn’t have to be purple? Golden beets are another type of beetroot. You can also get white ones and candy striped ones too.
Golden beetroot has some of the flavour of its purple cousin, but it’s sweeter and a bit less earthy. They also keep their colour to themselves and don’t dye everything they come into contact with.
I’ve made plenty of beetroot cakes in the past, but never thought of using golden beets and yet we’ve been growing them for years.
Golden Beetroot Cake
It was the golden colour of Dom’s cake that most appealed, but also the word itself. Something to do with summer and the warm glow of hopes and aspirations – a culinary El Dorado.
Anyway, I lifted a couple of large golden beets from our plot and the first chance I got I put them on to cook. First mistake! If I’d looked at the recipe beforehand rather than relying on a very vague memory, I would have realised they were meant to be grated raw. Hey ho, never mind.
The second mistake I was much more bothered by. Dom’s recipe called for light muscovado sugar. Trawling through my cupboards, I realised I’d run out of it, so before I thought about the implications, I’d bunged in a load of dark muscovado sugar. No hope for a beautiful golden cake now. Why I didn’t use caster sugar instead I’ve no idea.
Top Tip: It’s golden caster sugar every time now.
Golden Beetroot Cake: My Way
I made a few intentional alterations as well as mistaken ones. I omitted the vanilla extract as I wanted the lemon and beetroot flavours to shine through. Golden beets are very sweet and have a lovely flavour. I also used a little less sugar, no golden syrup and a completely different icing.
Having said that. I’ve subsequently swapped the lemon for orange. The lemon is fine, but I think the orange complements the beetroot slightly better.
Originally, I made a chocolate cream cheese icing to go on top of the cake. But although it was delicious, it sort of overwhelmed everything else. I now make it with a light orange glaze instead. It works much better.
The house smelt really sweet and fragrant as the golden beetroot cake was cooking. Its citrus and sugary notes very much to the fore.
We couldn’t wait for the icing to set properly, so greedily cut into it at the first opportunity. The golden colour was not entirely obscured and it still looked quite appealing. The cake rose well, although CT thought it had the consistency and some of the flavour of treacle pudding. Really it was like a lemony ginger cake without the ginger: quite light, moist and rather moreish.
But, oh such a tragedy, we couldn’t eat it quite fast enough. The weather being very warm and very humid, the cake went mouldy after only three days and we had to throw nearly half of it in the compost bin. Our worms don’t know how lucky they are.
Golden Beetroot Cake Update – August 2024
Luckily, I’ve refined the recipe now and have made it several times since.
Ingredients
Other than the golden beetroot, the only ingredient needed that’s not a pantry staple is an orange.
Fat
Instead of butter, I use oil for this cake. This makes it a super easy recipe to make as there’s no need to cream the butter and sugar together. A quick whisk and you’re done. Oil also makes for a spongier consistency.
I use sunflower oil, but any neutral tasting oil works.
Flour
Wholemeal spelt is my go-to flour for cake making. It’s lighter than ordinary wholemeal, though it’s fine to use that if it’s all you have. It’s also generally better for the digestion.
Although I haven’t tried it, a good gluten-free flour should work too.
Ground almonds also go into the mix. This gives a lovely texture and helps to lock in moistness. It’s also an additional source of protein.
Orange
Because you’re going to use the zest of an orange for this recipe, it’s best to go organic if you can. If you can’t find an organic orange, then go for unwaxed and give it a good scrub. If you only have ordinary oranges, give one a really good scrub in soap and water before using.
Sugar
Golden caster sugar is a less refined version of white sugar, so gets my vote for 99% of the recipes I make.
I have made this cake with dark muscovado sugar which gives it a rich, sticky quality. Although this is delicious, it masks the golden colour and makes for a heavier cake.
How To Make Golden Beetroot Cake
Apart from cooking and pureeing the beetroot, this golden cake is quite a simple one to make.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions, timings and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Prepare Beetroot
If you have leaves attached to the beetroot, remove those, but leave the top of the root in tact. If you don’t most of the colour will bleed out as it cooks. For the same reason, don’t remove the tail either.
Scrub the beetroot well, then place in a pan of lightly salted water. Place the lid on the pan, bring to the boil and simmer until tender. A sharp knife should slip in easily.
Drain the beetroot, but don’t throw the water away. It’s a really useful stock for soup or other dishes and will keep covered in the fridge for two to three days.
Allow the beetroot to cool a little, then cut it into chunks. Place the chunks in a blender along with the orange juice. Make sure you zest the orange before juicing it. Blitz into a puree. You can also use a stick blender (affiliate link) or just mash well by hand with a potato masher.
Step 2. Zest Orange
You’ll need to zest the orange before you juice it for the beetroot. Finely grate it into a large mixing bowl. I find a microplane (affiliate link) is brilliant for this.
Step 3. Line Tin
Line the tin with baking paper or do as I do and use a silicone liner on the bottom. These are reusable and you can put them in the dishwasher. I then just lightly grease the sides of the tin.
Alternatively use a silicone mould and lightly grease it first. I use butter papers for this – a small step but one to further reduce waste.
Step 4. Prepare Cake Batter
Add the sugar and oil to the orange zest bowl and break in the eggs. Give it a good whisk. Then sieve in the dry ingredients. Throw any bran left in the sieve back into the bowl.
Whisk in the dry ingredients until everything is just about incorporated. Then add the beetroot puree. Fold this into the batter with the whisk until just mixed.
Scrape the batter into the cake tin. Give the tin a couple of sharp taps on the counter to level the batter.
Step 5. Bake Cake
Bake the cake until it’s well risen and firm to the touch. Insert a skewer or toothpick and if it comes out more or less clean the cake is baked. If the top looks like it’s browning too much, cover the top with baking paper of foil. I use the afore mentioned butter paper.
Once baked, remove from the oven onto a wire rack and leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes. Invert the cake onto a board, then flip it over onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 6. Prepare Icing
In case of lumps, sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Then drizzle in just enough orange juice to make a slightly runny icing. Too wet and it will run strait off the cake, too dry and it won’t run at all. Add a small amount at a time and mix, then a bit more until you have the right consistency.
Spoon the glaze over the cake so that the top is covered and some drips down the sides. Work quickly before the icing starts to set.
Decorate the cake as you see fit or keep plain. Sprinkles are always good. I used some of the rose petals from our garden.
Leave the icing to set, then serve.
Other Vegetable Cake Recipes You Might Like
- Beetroot brownies
- Chocolate courgette cupcakes (vegan)
- Chocolate pecan pumpkin cake
- Jerusalem artichoke cake
- Kale apple cake
- Parsnip & walnut cake
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this golden beetroot cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for making cakes with vegetables?
Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, use the hashtag #tinandthyme so I can see them.
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If you’d like more beetroot recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Golden Beetroot Cake. PIN IT.
Golden Beetroot Cake
Equipment
- microplane (affiliate link) optional
Ingredients
Cake
- 250 g golden beetroot
- 1 orange zest and juice of half – try to use organic or at least unwaxed if you can
- 100 ml sunflower oil
- 175 g golden caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 100 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat)
- 50 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Icing
- 4 tbsp icing sugar (50g)
- ½ orange juice only
Instructions
Cake
- Scrub the beetroot, but don't peel it. Boil in lightly salted water until tender – about ¾ of an hour. Drain and leave to air dry for a couple of minutes.250 g golden beetroot
- Mash well with a potato masher together with the orange juice and finely grated zest. Alternatively blitz with a stick blender. For smoothest results use a power blender.1 orange
- Meanwhile, pour the sunflower oil into a large bowl and whisk in the sugar.100 ml sunflower oil, 175 g golden caster sugar
- Break the eggs in and whisk again.3 large eggs
- Sieve in the dry ingredients, throwing any bran left in the sieve into the bowl and stir until everything is just about mixed.100 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat), 50 g ground almonds, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- Add the blitzed beetroot and stir.
- Scrape the batter into a lined 20cm (8 inch) cake tin or greased silicone mould and level the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out more or less clean.
- Leave in the tin for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Icing
- Mix the icing sugar with just enough of the orange juice to make a slightly runny glaze.4 tbsp icing sugar, ½ orange
- Spread over the cooled cake allowing it to drip down the cake.
- Decorate as you see fit. I used fresh rose petals from the garden.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
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BVG – thank you, you know how to make a girl feel better 🙂
Janice – thank you. those golden beets are just gorgeous.
C – I haven’t come across white beetroot before. Wonder what they taste like? Beetroot makes for a nice moist cake – too moist in this case!
It looks gorgeous – really moist and delicious. I’m very impressed by your golden beetroot, I occasionally see them, but they are a lovely colour when cooked. I once bought a relative who enjoys her allotment some white beetroot seed! Lots of possibilities…
Such pretty golden beetroot! Love that your cake took on a life of it’s own and still worked out delicious!
It looks amazing, must be a great recipe whichever version you go for!!!
Torview – thank you, it was delicious, if not quite golden enough 😉
Beth – I guess it’s good to treat the worms well once in a while!
Aveen – I can’t quite describe it, but it tastes quite different to ordinary beetroot and it’s very sweet.
Dom – this is true, although I don’t think I’ve made the same thing twice since I started this blog.
Baking Addict – no we can’t believe it either 🙁
Suelle – thank you, it was very disappointing – the throwing away bit, not the cake.
Celia – he he, you’ve got that about right. Do try the golden beets if you get a chance, they are sweeter than purple ones and don’t stain your fingers into the bargain.
CityHippy – they taste different, but I can’t quite describe it – not as beetrooty and a bit sweeter.
Katie – isn’t it a shame to have to throw cake away? Hard luck. They are indeed a gorgeous colour and almost worth it for that alone.
Nic – I live in a world of vague memories, so it’s lucky I get some good results sometimes 😉
Chele – it is very satisfying using the result of one’s own labours in the field – almost worth all the blood, sweat and tears 😉 You’ve experienced some of it with your strawberries I expect.
Gloria – thank you.
Johanna – this year I have more beetroot of both colours than I know what to do with. Last year I couldn’t grow any – shrug!
sounds delicious to me – I would make the same mistakes – but at least if you grow golden beetroot you will have more beetroots to try this with (or at least you will next season if this season’s have run out)
Look georgeous I loveit!! gloria
It must be so lovely to be able to bake with produce you have grown yourself. Love the colour of the beets, I can almost taste that cake from here ;0)
for a cake made of vague memories that’s a delicious looking result!
Wow what a gorgours sunny colour those beets are. You can sort of see them in the cake, it seems very glowing. The humid weather is a pain for destroying cakes, the same things happened to me earlier this week. Guess you’ll just have to bake it again 🙂
Hmm, I’ve never seen golden ones before either. Do they have a similar taste to the regular ones?
…and lucky worms indeed! What a pest it went mouldy, it looks quite fine Ms Choclette 🙂
You’re so funny, Choc, I can just see you boiling the beets and then reading the recipe and going..”oh bugger..” 🙂
I’m amazed by the colour of the beets, I’ve never seen golden ones before. I’ll look out for them – thank you! 🙂
What a shame that so much had to be thrown away – it looks and sounds delicious.
I can’t believe you binned half of it! It looks amazing! I will have to try baking with golden beets now and also make sure I read the recipe first 🙂
I love this post, it really made me chuckle. I’m just the same, always skim-reading rather than taking it in properly and paying the consequences. It does look rather good nonetheless and I have seen beetroot cake recipes that call for cooked and mashed beetroot. Anyway. You can always make it again! Xx
I could have helped you eat it! I’ve never had golden beetroot, does it just taste the same as the bogstandard red stuff? We’ve got a load of beetroot on the allotment that need to be made into something, I might give this a try and see how pink it turns out 🙂
Oh no…tragedy! I bet the worms enjoyed it. It looks lovely and moist
beetroot cake looks delicious