You see, when I bought beets, I had to buy a pack. Which meant I had quite a few beets to deal with. As mentioned in my Red Velvet Cake post, I haven't found many uses for this dirt-flavored root. As I was already doing a foodie photo shoot for the cake, I decided to double up and make two versions.
If I make something I am unfamiliar with, such as red velvet cake colored with beets, I generally compare a few different recipes before narrowing down my choice. The last thing you want to do is wind up eating the wrong part of a vegetable (note my first attempt at eating a grilled artichoke when terribly wrong), so prior knowledge helps. I'll often use components from a few, depending on what ingredients I have or what I've learned worked well in the past. What I noticed was that some recipes for red velvet cake of this style have vinegar and others do not. Some don't cook the beets at all up front (though slightly softened is much easier to work with, in my opinion).
I followed the same method I had in the layer cake version, by cooking the beets in the microwave first to soften them slightly first. Then I peeled them, cut them into chunks about 1-2 inches in size, and blended them in the food processor. This time I added to the buttermilk, lemon juice, and eggs to the beet mixture first, and beat the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until it was well-combined. I then poured the vanilla extract and beet mixture in with the whipped butter and sugar, and gradually stirred in the flour.
After scooping the batter into cupcake pans, I let the cupcakes bake about 20 minutes, then set them aside to cool down while I whipped up the cream cheese frosting.
One person that tried them said the cupcakes had a better flavor, but for me I have to say that cake was just plain good. The biggest difference was in color. The cupcakes were not as vibrant as the cake, which really tells me the vinegar makes a big difference in making the color pop. The cupcakes were a reddy-brown color, while the cake was bright red. For the sake of creating a recognizable red velvet that really looks beautiful, the cake recipe I posted initially takes the, uh, cake. :)
Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1-2 beets
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 large eggs
For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 package cream cheese (8 ounces), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 2 cupcake pan with baking papers. Stab the beets a few times with a fork, then wrap in a damn paper towel and microwave for 5 minutes to soften. Remove from microwave and let cool until they are lukewarm. Peel the beets with a vegetable peeler, then cut in to chunks about 2 inches in size and add to a food processor. Blend until puréed. Add buttermilk, lemon juice, and continue processing until smooth, then add the eggs and blend again. Sift or whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the vanilla extract and the beet mixture and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring between additions, until combined. Pour into the prepared cake pans and bake for about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove and set aside to cool.
To make the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese together for 3 minutes on high speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, then slowly stir in powdered sugar. If dry, add water and stir until combined.
Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.
adapted from beet red velvet cupcakes
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