I had this great idea that I was going to do a kind of Root Cake. To be fair it was a root…and tuber… and fruit… cake. Whatever. The big idea, was that I was going to add beets! I love beets. My daughter loves beets. I’m even down with beet juice!

So I went about things. I measured and mixed and sifted and shredded. I kept the beets separate from the other ingredients until the last minute so that they wouldn’t muddy up the color of my cake, and in the process, lose the deep pop of color that was going to be really cool to see flecked throughout.

I finally added in the beets. So pretty!

I took the bowl and mixed the cake as I went outside to see what the kids were up to. ‘Mmm that smells so good’ said my neighbor. What are you making?’ I described my brilliant idea, providing specific details about the texture and flavor notes it would highlight.

I put the cake in the fluted pan, and baked it for about 45 minutes. I inserted the tester and it came out clean. Perfect. The deep red flecks weren’t as pronounced as I would have liked, because of the general dark color of the cake, but you could see them. It was still visually interesting.

With two kitchen towels, I reached into the oven and brought out the pan, lifting it towards my face so that I could to take a nice deep smell of the freshly baked cake.

There was one particular note that stood out among the rest. Beet.

I could already tell this wasn’t going to be good.

‘Maybe it won’t be that bad. I do like beets. I went ahead and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing it onto the wire rack. Later that night, I sliced my husband and I both a nice piece. Good texture. Moist. Ok.

I took a bite. Beets.

But could it be a flavor that I might grow to like if I ate a few more bites? My husbands reaction when he tasted it gave me my answer.’Baby do I have to?’.

Ok. No Beets.

So… my revised version doesn’t contain beets, but it does use the fabulous sweet potato, carrot and apple to bring sweetness, moisture, lots of vitamins and some fiber to the table.  Flax is used to bind the cake and the recipe also bumps up the ‘good-for-you’ factor by using Whole Wheat pastry flour as well.

This is a denser cake. Like a muffin. But its just the right amount of sweet, with the dried cherries lending that extra pop. The nuts will probably be a personal thing. I’m super for them. My kids are super against them.

I got a thumbs up for sending it for my son’s snack the other day. He said it was just right. It was yummy and it filled him up! Its also really good as a breakfast, or coffee cake.

Carrot, Apple, Sweet Potato Cake

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon flax, ground

3 Tablespoons water

1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup whole cane sugar

1 1/2 cups shredded apple (1 med/lg apple)

1 1/2 cups shredded potato (approximately .35 lbs)

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (3-4 carrots)

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/3 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

3 Tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 cup apple juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a round 8 inch pan.

With a fork, mix the flax and water in a small dish and set aside to thicken while you gather the other ingredients.

In a large bowl with a sifter placed over it, add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. Sift, then whisk to blend well.

In a second bowl, add shredded apple, sweet potato, carrot, cherries, walnuts, maple syrup, apple juice and flax mixture. Toss to mix well.

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and blend until all ingredients are moistened. Its going to be very stiff, but don’t worry! The moisture comes from the shredded sweet potato, carrot and apple.

Spread into a lightly greased 8 in pan. Bake 45-50 minutes or until the edges begin to pull away from the edges slightly, and a tester comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the cake to cool completely on a rack.

Enjoy!