Best Chocolate Cake with Surprise Ingredient

Cake
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 2-9 inch round cake pans. Dust with flour or cocoa powder and shake out excess. Melt chocolate in double boiler over hot water. Set aside to cool slightly. Drain beet juice into small bowl. Chop beets into very small pieces. Add the diced beets back into the beet juice and set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and beat in melted chocolate.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium size bowl. With mixer on low speed, alternately beat flour mixture in fourths and buttermilk in thirds into chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until combined about 1 minute. Add beets and juice and mix on medium speed until blended, about 1 minute. The batter will be thin and you will see pieces of beets.

Divide the batter equally between the 2 prepared pans. Bake in the 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean and top of cake springs back when lightly pressed with finger tips. Do not over bake or cake will be dry. Cool cakes on wire racks for 10 minutes and then invert on wire racks. Cakes may be wrapped in foil when cool and frozen or kept at room temperature over night.

Frosting
Heat cream in a medium sized saucepan just until cream comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate and vanilla, stirring until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Transfer mixture into a plastic or glass bowl (metal may cause the mixture to set too quickly). Refrigerate, stirring every 10 minutes until mixture is as thick as pudding, about 50 to 60 minutes. At this point the frosting will set up very quickly until frosting is as thick as fudge, within the next 15 minutes. Alternately the frosting may be placed over ice water and stirred constantly until it is the right spreading consistency.

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer top-side down on a serving plate. Spread the top and sides with a third of the frosting and top with the second cake, again bottom-side up. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides. Let stand at room temperature until frosting is set. The frosted cake may be kept at room temperature, uncovered overnight or refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring back to room temperature before serving.