This is one of my daughter’s favorite homemade cupcakes. In fact, I delivered them to her lunch table this past month as part of her birthday surprise and she loved telling everyone what was in them after they had been eaten. You can find a lot of Red Velvet this time of year, but I could never bring myself to make it because of the high content of red food dye. Here’s the thing about these cupcakes, we made a more natural version of a Red Velvet Cupcakes that is mahogany in color. It is filled with a very unlikely ingredient that’s magical because you can’t taste it. This recipe makes a very moist cupcake from scratch (as long as you don’t over bake it). Although it might not sound like it, it’s totally worth the try…
This month I shared my recipe at the Price Chopper Kids Cooking Club & Maleigha helped me whip these up for a tasty treat!
Valentine’s Cupcakes with a Twist by Jodie Fitz
2 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs, large
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup pureed beets*
4 oz cinnamon applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vinegar, white
1 tablespoon red food dye
Heart Chocolates (optional)
Combine the pureed beets and cinnamon applesauce together & set the mixture aside. In a separate bowl, stir the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder & baking soda together and set it aside. In another bowl beat the eggs, butter & sugars together with an electric mixer. Add vanilla, vinegar, buttermilk & pureed beet & cinnamon applesauce mixture and continue to stir until all of those ingredients are mixed well. Add the dry ingredients & continue to mix until the batter is well blended. Add in 1 tablespoon of red food dye and continue to blend.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the mixture into lined muffin pans; this recipe makes approximately 24 cupcakes. Bake the cupcakes for approximately 25 minutes. Depending on how much you fill your cupcake muffin tins, you might want check them at 20 with a cake tester to see if they are ready so that you don’t over bake.
*Pureed Beets: Purchase the canned beets, diced or sliced, and puree them in a blender, mini food processor or food processor.
Note about this Recipe: According to a little research, the original version of red velvet cake came from a reaction that took place between the cocoa powder and baking soda in its original state. As ingredients have changed this no longer happens naturally and many red velvet recipes call for ½ cup or more of red food dye. Although we still add a tablespoon of red food dye, using the beets allows the ability to create a more natural mahogany cupcake to serve cutting down on the amount of red food dye needed. This recipe also allows for a little vegetable addition that can’t be tasted!
Frosting: We topped these cupcakes with a traditional cream cheese frosting & a chocolate heart on top for the final serve.
2 ½ – 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
½ cup butter, room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 – 5 tablespoons milk
Meat the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract together. Slowly add in the confectioner’s sugar and continue to mix. Slowly add in the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the desire consistency.
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Sounds yummy and maybe a little bit healthier than the average cupcake!