Have Extra Beets? Try Applesauce Beet Chocolate Cake!

OK so this sounds like a crazy concoction...but it tastes so good.

I had some extra beets once so I decided to give it a whirl. I made it one time with an old recipe I had found. It turned out to be a light fluffy super moist tasting chocolate cake and it did not taste like beets.
I felt the need to modify the recipe and lighten it up some more. The original recipe called for vegetable oil but I decided to substitute half the vegetable oil with applesauce and I switched over to canola oil and tweaked the flavorings. It turned out a tad more dense than the original but still super tasty and moist! I'll take a tad more dense cake with less fat and calories over a fluffier cake any day!
Enjoy!

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups pureed cooked beets (approx 1 pound)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
8 tablespoons unsweetened cococa powder

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F and grease a Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl using a mixer blend together beets, vanilla, sugar, oil and applesauce.
3. In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared pan.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean, 45-55 minutes

Notes:

• To puree the beets: Clean the beets and put them in boiling water until the beets can be pierced with a fork. Reserve some beet water. Once the beets are cooked and cooled,  remove the skin. Place in a food processor or blender and pulse until pureed, if necessary add some beet water to puree.
• Canned beets work as well
• I made a simple frosting drizzle by combining soft butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla and a little milk. I then drizzled the frosting over the cake.