Red Velvet Cupcakes made w/ Beets!


Truth be told: I never eat red velvet cake because I know it's made with red dye #2.
(How do you think they get that pretty red color?).

Well, here is a much better way to get your red on.
Use pureed beets!

Years back I made a delicious chocolate beetroot cake, and everyone loved it.

Beets and chocolate go well together for some odd reason.

Don't skip the cream cheese icing here, it is perfection on these cupcakes.
I cut the frosting recipe in half to just use a little dollop on top of each cupcake, but next time I would make the whole recipe....it was that good.


Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Beets (adapted from Southern Living):

10 ounces red beets, well scrubbed (I used 2 large roasted beets)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup whole buttermilk
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting:
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)

The original recipe wants you to microwave the beets wrapped in parchment paper for 10 minutes......I had leftover roasted beets, so I used roasted red beets instead.....I think you could use any cooked beets.

Puree the beets in a food processor until smooth. Add in the lemon juice and the rest of the ingredients to form a batter.


If you are using regular muffin tins, then the recipe makes 18-24 cupcakes. Since I always use those fancy big paper liners, I got 12 big cupcakes.

Using an ice cream scoop, pour the batter in 2/3 to the top of the liner.


Bake the cupcakes 15-18 minutes for small cupcakes, 25-30 for bigger ones.


Let cool on a cooling rack.

Make the frosting by beating the softened butter with the cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar (I used an electric mixer).

Make sure the cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting.

Spread some cream cheese frosting on each cupcake and some toasted pecan pieces.


These were delicious! I kept them in the fridge for freshness.

Comments

Bebe said…
In olden thymes some of us used pureed baby beets (in jars) for things like this.

I have never understood the fascination with a red cake made that way with what appeared to be a whole bottle of red food coloring.

Ciao Chow Linda said…
I agree with you about the red food coloring. Why do that to yourself when you can have an even tastier cake by buying a good chocolate cake. If you want the red color, the beets are a much better choice.
sherry said…
Beets do have a distintive taste, doesn't this get picked up in the taste of the cupcake?
Stacey Snacks said…
Sherry,
It's one large beet, and when you roast them, they become sweet......however, that said, many people don't like beets......so if you are one of them, then maybe you would not like these cupcakes........

But anyone who tried them had no idea that there were beets in the mixture.....my 10 year old neighbor LOVED them and he had no idea there were beets in them, he ate 2 after school, he asked for more!

:)