Easy Eggless Chocolate Beetroot Cake

I love all things chocolate! And a good chocolate cake comes right at top of that list. For me a good chocolate cake should be moist, fluffy with delicate crumbs and it should have a strong chocolate flavour. If it is topped with a chocolatey frosting, even better!

This chocolate cake meets all these criteria and then some! A delicious, nutritious eggless and whole wheat chocolate cake made with beetroots and drizzled with a luscious chocolate fudge sauce. This cake is not only refined flour free but refined sugar free too. The cake and the fudge sauce are both made using jaggery.

Here are the main ingredients and how they work in this recipe:

Cake

Whole Wheat Flour forms the base for this cake. This is our regular whole wheat aata.

Jaggery has a beautiful caramel flavour of its own and it works so well in this recipe.

Cocoa Powder is what makes this cake chocolatey. So using a good quality cocoa powder is the key. Choose a cocoa powder with a higher percentage of cocoa butter, around 10-15%. Dutch processed cocoa powders have an intense flavour and will work great here. If you want to use Raw Cacao powder, that will work beautifully here too. I have made this cake using both Dutch processed cocoa powder as well as Raw cacao powder.

Beetroot pairs really well with chocolate. This cake uses grated beetroots. The flavour of beetroots is not very evident once the cake is baked but it is actually a great way to sneak in some veggies into the cake to amp up the nutrition.

Fat – You can make this cake with ghee or butter or a neutral flavoured vegetable oil. They all work well in the recipe. You can also use half the quantity of ghee/butter and half of vegetable oil.

Water helps in blooming the cocoa. It helps in enhancing the cocoa flavours.

Buttermilk made with milk and apple cider vinegar is what makes this cake fluffy and moist. You can use white vinegar here too.

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

This sauce is easy to make, has an amazing chocolate flavour and pairs perfectly with this cake! All the ingredients are simple. The main ingredients are Jaggery, Cocoa Powder and Dark Chocolate. This sauce does not use any cream or milk. It does need a little bit of fat to give it a luscious feel. I made it using ghee but you can substitute it with butter too. You can also use Raw Cacao Powder instead of Cocoa Powder.

Here is the detailed recipe and all the ingredient measurements!

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

Serves: 10 Prep Time: 30 mins Cooking Time: 75 mins 75 mins

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

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Ingredients

For the Cake -

1. 1.5 cup (215 g) - Whole Wheat Flour
2. 1/2 cup (50 g) - Cocoa Powder
3. 1 cup (150 g) - Jaggery
4. 1/2 cup - Hot water
5. 1/2 cup  (100g) - Ghee
6. 1.5 cup - Milk
7. 1 tbsp - Apple Cider Vinegar
8. 2 tsp - Baking Powder
9. 3/4 tsp - Baking Soda
10. 1/4 tsp - Salt
11. 1 tsp - Vanilla Extract
12. 1 cup (115 g) - Grated Beetroot

For Chocolate fudge sauce -

1. 1/2 cup (75 g) - Jaggery
2. 1/4 cup - Water
3. 1 tbsp (10 g) - Ghee
4. 50g - Dark Chocolate
5. 2 tbsp (12-13 g) - Cocoa Powder
6. 1/4 tsp - Salt (optional)
7. 1/2 tsp - Vanilla Extract (optional)

Instructions

For the Cake -

1. Combine the milk and vinegar in a jar and set it aside.
2. In another bowl, take all the dry ingredients - whole wheat flour (aata), baking powder, baking soda and salt. Give it a good mix. Set it aside.
3. Take the jaggery and cocoa powder in a large bowl and add boiling hot water to it. Give it a good mix and leave it for 15-20 minutes.
4. Now add the ghee and vanilla extract to the bloomed cocoa mixture. Give it a mix.
5. Place a sieve over the bowl and sift in all the dry ingredients that we mixed in step 2. Give it a mix.
6. Add the prepared buttermilk from step 1 and fold everything gently using a spatula to form a smooth batter.
7. Add in the grated beetroots and give the better a final mix so it is all evenly mixed in.
8. Pour the batter in a greased and parchment lined 9 inch or 10 inch cake pan or a 6 cup Bundt pan. If you are using a bundt pan, grease it generously with butter and dust some cocoa powder or flour to prepare the pan.
9. Bake the cake at 170C for around 60-70 minutes depending on your oven. The cake should be nicely risen and a skewer inserted in the thickest part of the cake should come out clean.
10. Let the cake cool in the pan for around 10-15 minutes and flip it on a wire rack. This will ensure that the cake comes out cleanly from the pan.
11. Let it cool completely to room temperature before slicing.

For Chocolate fudge sauce -

1. Take the jaggery, cocoa powder and water in a heavy bottom pan, give it a mix and place it on medium heat.
2. Stir it occasionally until the mixture comes to a boil.
3. Turn the heat to low and cook it for around 5 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and add in the remaining ingredients. Gently spread it around so the chocolate is dipped in the syrup. Leave it for 5 minutes.
5. Now give it a good mix and place the pan back on low heat. Stirring continuously, cook it for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat.
6. Let the sauce cool slightly before using.

Drizzle a generous amount of the dark chocolate fudge sauce over the cake, slice into it and serve!

Notes

1. You can use Dutch processed cocoa powder or Raw Cacao powder to make this cake. They both work well in this recipe.
2. Substitute ghee with butter or a neutral flavoured vegetable oil. You can also use half the quantity of ghee/butter and half of vegetable oil.
3. Bake this cake low and slow. This is a thick cake. You can bake it into two 7 inch or 8 inch baking pans too. It will reduce the cooking time by 15-20 minutes.

Did You Make This Recipe?

Have you made this recipe? Tag me on Instagram at @VanillaTrails and use the hashtag #MadeWithVanillaTrails.