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Video

Beet Cake, Sweet and Romantic

A dreamy love letter to an unlikely ingredient in short film form

by Matt and Julie Walker July 8, 2011

Somewhere along the line, cooking videos have come to focus on the end product. A winning dish. A victorious chef. In the lurch towards entertainment and excellence, humble ingredients are sort of the little guys, often unappreciated. This short film, a cooking video, is a work of art – romantic and beautiful – and tells a story well beyond the technical aspects of how to assemble a cake. The video chronicles the life of the artful ingredients that comprise the recipe. How they drift and swirl and melt; essentially, how they live when our hands do the urging.

Tiger in A Jar, a creative studio made up of Matt and Julie Walker, has been in the works since the two married two years ago. Interested in the process of creation, Matt and Julie were enchanted by baking and cooking.  It was the way the ingredients fell in their hands, the textures and weights, the sounds the ingredients made, like cracking eggs against edges, that really enthralled Matt and Julie. Watch, and you’ll soon understand the interest and intrigue that they feel for the work-horses – yep, those ingredients that sit in supermarket aisles and farmer’s markets stalls and pantries – of the foods we so love. – Dana Covit, Editorial Assistant

 

Beet Cake

By Matt and Julie Walker

1 cup butter or margarine, softened, divided

1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar

3 eggs

1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate

2 cups pureed, cooked beets

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Confectioner's sugar, to garnish

In a mixing bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Melt chocolate with remaining butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Blend chocolate mixture, beets, and vanilla into the creamed mixture (mixture will appear separated). Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into a 9-inch cake pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in a pan before removing to a wire rack. Before serving, dust with confectioner's sugar.

 

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photo of Matt and Julie Walker

Matt and Julie Walker

Tiger in A Jar, by name, has only been around for a little while, but Matt and Julie have been creating for years. Married in July of 2009, and working together since, Tiger in A Jar has made multiple videos, planned numerous parties and hunted far and wide for amazing vintage decor.

photo of Dana Covit

Dana Covit

Dana is the Editorial Assistant for Gilt Taste. In addition to a sprightly little love for food and bumbling around the kitchen, she also adores films, and will be continuing her education in cinema and media studies at the graduate level this fall.