I just posted about Gory Cupcakes that I made two years ago which inspired this dessert. I wanted to make some elaborate cake or dessert but was not feeling that ambitious to take on such an endeavor. I decided that I should just stick to something that I knew would end up good. Since edible blood is the easiest Halloween item to make, I decided to make a blood splattered cake. As I had also just received a surplus of beets from a co-worker I knew a beet cake was in order. I had never made a beet cake but figured it would be similar to carrot cake or zucchini cake.

This cake is like a cross between a carrot cake & red velvet cake but without the food coloring in the batter. If I had made this for a party I would have added the red dye to get the extreme visual of red cake to blood splattered frosting. No one will know that there are beets in this cake. It is so light & fluffy and sweet that everyone will gobble it down. Be warned, after storing in the fridge it does become dense. Still delicious, but dense. Enjoy.

Bloody Beet Cake

• 3/4 cup butter, plus more for greasing pans
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup beet puree
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp + 1tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups cake flour
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• cream cheese frosting
  • 1 8oz pkg cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
• blood
  • 2 tbsp corn syrup
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp corn starch
  • red, blue, green food coloring
  • chocolate syrup

Beet Puree: Trim off ends and peel 1-2 beets. Chop into chunks, place in a pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil & boil until tender (about 30-45minutes depending on size of beets). Drain and place in a food processor & chop until pieces are very fine. Remove beets from the processor. Place one cup of this back into the processor and add milk, vanilla, vinegar, & lemon juice. Puree until smooth. Reserve the other beet puree for another use (feel free to make as much puree as you want by chopping more beets).

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 8-9in round cake pans with butter. Line with parchment paper and grease again.

In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until just incorporated.  Add the beet mixture & mix until combined. Add all of the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated scraping the sides as needed*. Pour into prepared cake pans.

*Note that if you want an intense red in the batter, as in a traditional red velvet cake, add a tsp of red food coloring to the batter at this point.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pans and cool completely. Place in the fridge or freezer for 30-60 minutes.

Frosting: In a large bowl beat the cream cheese, milk, & vanilla until light & fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in 1 cup increments and beat until desired texture is achieved.

Blood: Mix the corn syrup, water, and corn starch until desired consistency is achieved by adding more water or corn starch as needed. Add red food coloring until a deep red is achieved. Add 1-2 drops of blue &/or green food coloring (I did 2 drops of each). Add chocolate syrup to make a more blood-like color if needed (not very much is needed – don’t overdo it).

Assembly: Skim off the tops of the cakes if needed to make them flat. Frost the top of one with some frosting. Add the other cake, top side down, on top of this frosted cake. Add frosting to the top and spread in a even layer and coat the sides. Dip a pastry brush or tooth brush into the blood & flick at the cake to create a splattered blood look.

Serve at a party or just enjoy your creation.