hi,

I just made the Waldorf Astoria 1920's red velvet cake. Instead of canned beets, I steamed fresh ones, cut them up, weighed them (the recipe calls for 1.5 lbs), then pureed them and added it to the batter as per the recipe.

Holy beet taste! Did I do something wrong with the beets? It's beet overload. The texture is nice, but I'd be embarrassed to serve it.

Comments/suggestions?

Whoa, that's a lot of beets!

A 1# can of beets doesn't contain 1# of beets but a combination of beets and liquid equaling 1#.

I couldn't find the exact amount of beets in a 1# can but here's a link giving drained weights (10# cans) of some common canned vegetables:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100619183355AAqvouk

One commenter advised that half the weight of canned vegetables is liquid - so two 1# cans of beets would only equal 8 oz. of beets each. The recipe said to use "1 1/2 pounds canned beets, drained and pureed" but it probably really meant 1 1/2 cans of beets so that would equal 12 oz. of beets - not 1.5# once drained.

At least that's what I got out of it:

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/1920s-waldorf-astoria-red-velvet-cake/

See cakelace's comments. She said she used two cans which is 16 oz. and it still came out fine.

Found other fresh beet/RVC recipes:

http://bakecakery.com/2011/03/16/red-velvet-cake-with-beets/

http://www.healthygreenkitchen.com/red-velvet-cake-with-beets.html

http://theview.abc.go.com/blog/veggies-dessert

HTH

That explains it then! I will retry this tomorrow using 12 oz of beets.

Oddly enough, my 7 yr old loves the cupcakes - he doesn't realize what's in them!

Here are some chocolate beet cakes (use fresh beets) that your 7 yr. old might also enjoy:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/beet-bundt-cake/detail.aspx

(One reviewer stated that she used three 15 oz. cans of beets which yielded 2-1/2 cups mashed beets - of which she only needed 2 cups for this recipe.)

http://www.food.com/recipe/red-beet-chocolate-cake-7883

HTH

Thanks, Jan!

I make this cake all the time. I use canned beets....almost 3 cans. Drain the liquid from the cans and weigh the beets -- 1.5 lbs worth -- and then purée the beets. I then put them into a sieve and let them drain some more while the rest of the cake is being assembled. Fresh beets have a stronger flavor than canned. No one I've served this cake to knows there are beets in it.

Thanks for all of this information! I've been wanting to try a beet-based red velvet but haven't yet. One question - does this recipe produce a red cake? Or is it more brown in color after it has baked?