Name: Chocolate Cakes with Red Beet Ice Cream and Toasted Walnut Sauce
Yield: Makes 10 Servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 pounds red beets, peeled and quartered; 2 cups heavy cream; 8 ounces walnut halves, toasted and excess skins rubbed off; ½ teaspoon kosher salt; 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, such as Valhrona Equitorial, chopped; 2 cups milk; ¾ cup sugar; 8 large egg yolks; 2 cups Poaching Liquid; ¼ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks; 2 teaspoons sugar; 3 large eggs; 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter; 2 to 3 small red beets, sliced paper-thin on a mandoline (about 60 slices); Flour for dusting; Canola oil for deep-frying; Powdered sugar, in a shaker; Kosher salt

Preparation info

Makes
10
Servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The French Laundry Cookbook

By Thomas Keller

Published 1999

About

This dessert has its origins in a cake my mother used to make for me. She put grated beets in it, which resulted in a deep, dark color. When I decided to create a dessert using beet ice cream, I knew I should serve it with this kind of chocolate cake. I’ve added more flavor and textural contrast in the form of toasted candied walnuts.

Ingredients

Red Beet Ice Cream

2 pounds red beets, peeled and quartered
2 cups heavy cream
2

Method

For the Red Beet Ice Cream

Put the beets through a vegetable juicer, reserving the pulp; you should have about 2 cups of juice. Place the juice in a saucepan and reduce over low heat, skimming as necessary, to about ¼ cup. Strain the liquid into a container, cover, and place in the refrigerator.

In a saucepan, combine the reserved beet pulp with the