"Bears. Beets. Battle Star Galactica."

If you haven't seen the episode of The Office where Jim impersonates Dwight, you're missing out! These three 'B's'  are things that Dwight loves of course. Unlike him, however, I do NOT like beets (bears and Battle Star Galactica I can handle). Here are some of my reasons:

#1: They look like dirt.

#2: They taste like dirt.

#3: They may resemble a rat on your counter:

Nonetheless, when beets are forced on you by your local community produce co-op (which is wonderful except for the main fact that you do not choose what produce you get each week), and you do not want to just throw them in the trash, and you can't find anyone else who likes them either, you go to allrecipes.com and look up 'beets' and see if anything would make this humble vegetable worth eating. 

So this is what I did about a month ago when beets starting making a regular appearance in our produce share. And low and behold, I found a Chocolate Beet Bundt Cake recipe that is absolutely delicious. 

"CAKE! EVERYBODY LIKES CAKE!" - Donkey

"I don't care what everyone likes! Ogres are NOT like cakes." - Shrek

So I read reviews on it just to make sure it wasn't chocolate cake that tasted like, well, dirt, but all the comments were positive enough for me to try it. Long story short, I have made it three times now and anyone who has tasted it cannot tell at all that there are beets in it...just tastes like amazingly moist chocolate cake. 

Me being me, I have altered it somewhat, so here's my version. So if you happen to find yourself with edible rats on your counter this fall, now you know what to do with them!!

Chocolate Beet Bundt Cake

1 cup butter, divided

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

4 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped fine

2 tsp. vanilla

3 TB. cocoa

2 1/4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

4-5 beets

1. Clean beets and cut ends off. Wrap in foil and roast in a 400 degree oven until tender, about an hour. Cool, peel, and process in blender with a little water until smooth. Add enough water if needed to make about  2 cups. Reduce oven to 350.

2. Melt chocolate and 1/4 of the butter in the microwave on high for 45-60  seconds. Stir to smooth.  Let cool slightly.

3. Beat the remaining 3/4 of the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat several minutes. Add vanilla, chocolate, and beet puree. Beat until smooth. Mix together all the dry ingredients and add in 2-3 additions, beating on low speed, until combined. Scrape down bowl and beat another 30 seconds or so until smooth and thoroughly combined. 

4. Spray a 10" bundt pan with cooking spray. Spread batter into it and smooth with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a rack and cool completely. 

All this cake needs is a little powdered sugar or a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you're good to go. Freezes beautifully as well. Enjoy!