Red Vel-Beet Cupcakes
Call me quirky, but these cupcakes with their brightly coloured cake and crumb give me joy! There is just something exciting about using beets as a natural source of colour in these beautifully tinted, tasty cupcakes. And, the orange buttercream frosting perfectly complements the true earthy flavour. If you like the idea of using beets in your baking but don't want as strong a beet flavour to come through, pick up or grow the "Detroit Dark Red" variety for baking. This variety of beet has a low concentration of geosmin, the compound responsible for that distinctive earthy beet flavour.
Equipment
- hand mixer
- 12-cup muffin tin
- 12 paper liners
- blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 2 cups cake flour sifted
- 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- â…› teaspoon cinnamon
- 1-1½ cups pureed red beets made from roasting about 2-3 medium-sized red beets. For a lighter colour and beet flavour, use 1 cup of puree. For a darker colour and flavour, use the full 1½ cups.
- optional: use 1 tablespoon of orange juice to puree the beets the finer you blend the beets the more uniformly the colour is distributed in the cupcake.
- ¾-1 cup sugar I usually use only ¾ cup. Using less sugar will mean the cupcakes will have a more predominant beet flavour.
- 3 large eggs beaten
- â…” cup sunflower oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
For the orange buttercream frosting:
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons orange juice strained of pulp
- optional: ½ teaspoon orange oil orange oil is an essential oil found in the baking section of natural food stores
Instructions
To roast beets:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Wash the beets and, leaving the skins on, rub a light coating of oil on them. Wrap them in a double layer of tin foil. Put them in the oven and roast for about an 45 minutes. (When a fork pierces easily through the beets, they are done.)
- Remove the beets and let them cool enough to handle. Slip off the skins and roughly chop.
- Puree in blender or food processor. You can add 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed orange juice if necessary. Measure out 1-1½ cups and set aside.
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, sift the cake flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
- To a large bowl, add the eggs and beat for 1 minute. Add the sugar, beets, oil and vanilla extract. Beat for 30 seconds to combine. Remove the beaters and wash for use to make the frosting.
- Using a spatula, add the flour, one third at a time. (Do not overmix.)
- Distribute the batter evenly amongst the 12 muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Once baked, let the muffins rest in the muffin tin for 10 minutes. Remove from the tin and let cool for one hour before frosting.
The orange buttercream frosting:
- Add the butter to a large bowl and beat until creamy.
- Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, orange juice and if using, the orange oil. Beat until combined.
- Frost the cupcakes using an offset spatula or pipe the icing on using a piping bag and star icing tip.
Nutrition
Serving: 1-cupcakeCalories: 472kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 5gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 260mgPotassium: 104mgFiber: 1gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 552IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!