Desserts

Chocolate Beet Cake from Brown Eggs and Jam Jars {giveaway}

36 comments
Chocolate beet cake from Brown Eggs and Jam Jars

I was one of those little kids who loved beets. Mashed winter squash I couldn’t stomach as a child but I’d have second helpings of boiled beets with supper. That’s why I couldn’t resist the Chocolate Beet Sheet Cake recipe in the new cookbook, Brown Eggs and Jam Jars.

Written by the author of the popular food blog, Simple Bites, Brown Eggs and Jam Jars is part cookbook, part food journal, with recipes punctuated by “Homesteading” essays about the author’s backyard sugar bush, laying hens and kitchen gardens. It’s about how you can get back to the land in suburbia, with young kids firmly in tow.


If you love the idea of cooking with kids, or aspire to engage your kids in the kitchen, you’ll be encouraged by this book. For author Aimee Wimbush-Bourque, her kids are very much a part of kitchen life.

That’s one of the things I love about the book, the nonchalance of kids helping the kitchen.
From the time they were infants my kids have been alongside me in the kitchen. In the highchair playing with scraps of pastry, standing on a chair at the counter rolling out biscuits, punching down the pizza dough and up to their elbows in the flour bag.  There’s a sense of joy and purpose in it. Like when you teach your kids to ride a bike and how to dive off the raft. Like when they learn to read.

Teaching your kids to be comfortable in the kitchen is as much about instilling the pleasure of gathering around the table and sharing as it is imparting a life skill.

But back to the beet cake…
It’s an outstanding chocolate cake recipe with a luscious texture. Made without refined sugar (honey & maple syrup instead), a little buttermilk and a hint of coffee, the flavour is lovely and layered. Better yet, the recipe makes a 9”x 13” pan.

The book is full of recipes as appealing as this.

Chocolate beet cake from Brown Eggs and Jam Jars

And the book is just the right size. A collection of 100 or so recipes, this is mostly everyday fare, great for families but suited for dinner parties too.

This is wholesome food made with nourishing ingredients. And for author Aimee, a whole lot of love. 

Here’s a version of the cake that I adapted using a bit of molasses. 

 

36 Comments

  1. Any breakfast food! (anything with eggs to be specific.. :P)

     
  2. I love baking cakes and cookies.

     
  3. I love baking- muffins, cupcakes, brownies

     
  4. I love cooking dinners and baking loaves

     
  5. Baking sweets! I love to create dinners but baking is like my therapy.

     
  6. I love making anything delicious! This cake looks amazing! My mouth is watering thinking of putting my community garden beets in a chocolate cake!

     
  7. any kind of entree – and its gotta be easy!

     
  8. I love to cook chicken. It is so versatile.

     
  9. I love cooking Italian food (luckily for me, my hubby loves to eat Italian food!) LOL. But even more than that, I love to bake, especially cupcakes!

     
  10. I love making soups and entrees I can enjoy the day of and then freeze the leftovers for another meal.

     
  11. I love baking and can happily spend all day making goodies!

     
  12. I love to make Italian food.
    heather hgtempaddy@hotmail.com

     
  13. I like baking bset I think (mostly sweets!)
    ******************
    {in the contest I am Margot Core on the Rafflecopter}

     
  14. I like making casserole. Everything tossed into one pan, throw it in the oven and serve it in the same dish it was baked in.

     
  15. I'm a baker at heart – cookies, brownies, squares, pies…you name it, I'll bake it!

     
  16. My favourite kind of food…..the HUGE holiday dinners….Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. That's when all the kids are home and family memories are created.

     
  17. My favourite food to cook is comfort food! So homemade thin crust pizzas, Ramen, Kimchi fried rice and even a heightened Mac n cheese!

     
  18. This book looks lovely!

     
  19. I love making soups because they're so versatile.

    Thanks for the opportunity!

     
  20. Maura Buchignani

    fish and stews

     
  21. I love to cook any type of soup

     
  22. I love cooking anything and everything! I'm not a great baker though because I don't like to measure 🙂 One of my favorite things to make is chili.

     
  23. I love veggies and chocolate, so this is a perfect recipe for me. Yum!

     
  24. I love roasting a medley of root veggies.

     
  25. I love to cook anything my husband actually ends up cooking.

     
  26. I love Salmon because it is such a healthy protein

     
  27. Recently, I've been loving homemade soup. Baking will always be my favourite though.

     
  28. Mexican food!

     
  29. This comment has been removed by the author.

     
  30. Lately I have been loving baking with my son. It's too cold outside and baking is a fun way to warm up and enjoy the time together! (brandeelh7@hotmail.com)

     
  31. I love to cook desserts. I would love to try the chocolate beet cake that you chose to feature. I might keep the secret ingredient a secret until I get a nod from those who try it and see what they think is in it. Just for fun. I love beets. Mmmmmm

     
  32. I love making curries

     
  33. I love to bake desserts! Cakes, squares, cookies are my faves!

     
  34. I love to bake, especially breads and desserts.

     
  35. I love baking muffins and pastries. This cake looks delicious too!

     
  36. Love to cook pasta!

     

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