I'm obsessed with New York Times Cooking. I recently invested in my obsession and bought a subscription because I love looking at the recipes and contemplating, how can I veganize it? My first attempt was this Olive Oil Bundt Cake with Beet Swirl. Always trying to find a way to make beets delicious and this bundt cake does it.
Ingredients
1¼ pounds raw beets
1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons, and more for greasing
1½ teaspoons salt
3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
4 tablespoons vegan custard powder*
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1½ cups soy milk
1 tablespoon lemon zest
½ cup fresh lemon juice (from 3 or 4 lemons)
2/3 cup extra-firm silken tofu**
Directions
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or baking mat. Trim, cut, and peel the beets into bite-size pieces On the baking sheet, toss the beets with the 2 tablespoons oil and ½ teaspoon salt until coated. Roast until fork-tender, tossing halfway through, 40 to 50 minutes. Let beets cool to room temperature.
Once cooled, transfer beets to a food processor and pulse until puréed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. I don't own a food processor so I used my Vitamix blender at the highest setting. The beets weren't blending as well as I'd like so I added 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon maple syrup to help them purée a bit more. Transfer to a medium bowl.
Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Grease the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with oil, dust with flour, then invert the pan over the sink and tap it gently to discard excess flour. Set aside.
In a blender, combine the soy milk, lemon zest and juice and let sit, 2 minutes. Add silken tofu and blend until smooth, then blend in the remaining 1½ cups oil and set aside.
Sift the 3½ cups flour with the granulated sugar, custard powder, baking powder, baking soda and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients, continuing to whisk, beginning in the middle and moving outward, until just combined. Transfer 2 cups of the batter to the bowl with the cooled beet purée and gently fold it in until combined.
Pour about half of the plain batter into the base of the prepared Bundt pan. Next, pour half the beet batter on top, followed by half the remaining plain batter. Top with another layer of the remaining beet batter, then a final layer of the remaining plain batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Carefully invert the cake onto a serving tray to cool completely. The original recipe suggests that you let it sit for a few hours or overnight to maintain a nice swirl. I let my cake sit overnight and I am so pleased with it.
The original recipe dusts the cake with confectioners sugar. I would probably do that if I was taking this to a party but since I'm just noshing on it myself. I left that off but please feel free to do that yourself!
Let me know if you try this recipe.
Notes:
* I used Jell-O vanilla pudding mix because the powder is free from milk, eggs, or other animal products and it's easy to find in the grocery store.
** silken tofu is usually found on the shelves in the grocery store rather than in the cooler section. Firm is ok if they don't have extra-firm. Don't use other types of tofu because they have a different texture that doesn't blend smoothly.