Chocolate Beet Cake with pink frosting (Gluten-Free)
This gluten-free chocolate beet cake is incredibly moist, rich, and chocolatey, with beets adding natural sweetness and color. Finished with creamy pink cream cheese frosting, it’s a beautiful dessert perfect for celebrations, Mother’s Day, or everyday baking.
Jump to Recipe
Gluten-free celebration cake
This gluten-free beetroot cake delivers incredible texture and flavor. It’s incredibly moist and rich, with beets adding natural sweetness and color. The cake is super chocolaty and is topped with a stunning pink cream cheese frosting for a bakery-style dessert made at home.
It’s easy to make and perfect for birthdays, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or gatherings. If you love vegetables in sweet recipes, there’s also a similar chocolate beetroot loaf cake recipe in the blog, but instead of puree, it uses grated beetroot.
How to make this moist chocolate cake
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch Springform Cake Pan (22cm). Set aside.
Boil or steam unpeeled beetroot until tender. Peel beetroot while warm and process until smooth. You need 200ml of puree (about 3/4 cup, a little more). Keep some beet juice for the frosting.
Whisk gluten-free all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat oil with sugar. Add beetroot puree and mix well. Add eggs one by one, beating until fully incorporated, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients along with the buttermilk and beat until well incorporated; don’t overmix.
Finally, add the chocolate chips (optional) and mix with a rubber spatula. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan
Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool before removing.
When the cake is completely cold, spread the pink cream cheese frosting.
Store the cake covered in the refrigerator or freeze it in an air-tight container.
For the Pink cream cheese frosting:
In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, softened butter, sifted powdered sugar, and drops of beet juice or red food coloring with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before spreading.
Baking tips and serving options
- Don’t overmix: don’t overmix the batter; it could become tough.
- Colour: When you want to add colour to a preparation, whether with food colouring or another ingredient, incorporate it very little by little to achieve the desired tone.
- Icing: top the cake with a simple icing instead of the cream cheese frosting.
- Chocolate ganache: for a chocolatey version, finish the cake with chocolate ganache.
- Plain: leave the cake as it is, and it is delicious too.
For more Mother’s Day cake ideas
Moist Chocolate Beet Cake (Gluten-free)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 and 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 medium beets (200g)
- 1/3 cup natural oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup chocolate chip or chunks, optional
For the pink cream cheese frosting:
- 7 ounces cream cheese (200g), softened at room temperature
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter (80g), softened at room temperature
- 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- Drops of beet juice or red food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch Springform Cake Pan (22cm). Set aside.
- Boil or steam unpeeled beetroot until tender. Peel beetroot while warm and process until smooth. You need 200g of puree (about 3/4 cup, a little more). Keep some beet juice for the frosting.
- Whisk gluten-free all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat oil with sugar. Add beetroot puree and mix well. Add eggs one by one, beating until fully incorporated, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients along with the buttermilk and beat until well incorporated; don't overmix.
- Finally, add the chocolate chips and mix with a rubber spatula (optional). Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool before removing.
- When the cake is completely cold, spread the pink cream cheese frosting.
For the pink cream cheese frosting:
- In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, softened butter, sifted powdered sugar, and drops of beet juice or red food coloring with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before spreading.