Beet Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe

I don't have great photos of this sticky toffee pudding because we ate it up too quickly for pictures. It was so freakin' delicious. And the coolest part was that I used beets in the batter! Yes, beets, the root veggie that tastes like dirt. 

Honestly, beets have grown on me in the past few years and I've been trying to be more open-minded about including them in meals. Buuuut if I can blend 'em up and put them in a cake, why not do that? P.S. look at the color of the batter--I love that Pepto Bismol pink!

I made this because I'd been to Venturo Osteria and Wine Bar out here in Sunnyside (which is an adorable little date spot where the guy who always serves us has a would-be-ironic-if-we-were-in-Brooklyn handlebar moustache) and we ordered a "Sweet Baby Jesus" cake for dessert. I needed to have it again, realized it was basically sticky toffee pudding, didn't have enough dates on-hand, saw beets in my crisper and thought, hey, beets are pretty sweet! The rest was history.

Really, though, this cake is a new fave. Sorry, pie. 

Sticky Toffee Beet and Date Cake

For the Cake

• 3/4 cup beets, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup dried dates, chopped and pits removed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour

For the Toffee Sauce

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

For Serving

• 1 pint vanilla ice cream

Cooking Directions

1. Cover beets with water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer, cooking on a simmer for a few minutes until you can pierce beets with a fork. Turn off heat and add dates to beet/hot water mixture to rehydrate.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Drain beets and dates of liquid. Then, return to pot, add baking soda and stir to coat. Add mixture to a food processor or blender and puree.
4. In another bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, cream butter and sugar with beaters. Add in eggs and mix well. Add in beet and date puree, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Mix. Finally, fold in flour, 1/2 cup at a time.
5. Grease a 8 inch baking dish with butter. Pour batter into pan and then bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Let cool in pan. Can be made up to one day ahead. Store covered and at room temperature.
7. When getting ready to serve the dessert, begin your toffee sauce. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and heavy cream and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring consistently (use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, not a whisk). Once thickened to desired consistency--I cook mine for about 3 or 4 minutes at a boil--turn off heat.
8. Cut cake into portions, top with 2 Tablespoons of warm toffee sauce and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!