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These red velvet cupcakes get their color not from usual food coloring but from puréed roasted beets, which also serve to retain moisture! The recipe is far simpler than ones you may know; no cocoa powder, buttermilk, milk, vinegar or baking soda!
Redness alone does not define red velvet cake. The name velvet simply denotes any cake with an especially fine crumb.
What’s known and is being debated about its history…
Red velvet cake dates back to at least 1873, in the United States, invented by John Adams of Adams Extract, a Texas-based company, credited for bringing red velvet cake to kitchens across America during the Great Depression. Adams Extract was among the first to sell red food color and other flavor extracts, by using point-of-sale posters and tear-off recipe cards. However, the cake and its original recipe are well-known in the United States, from New York City’s famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, during the 1920s. When foods were rationed during World War II, bakers used boiled beets to enhance the color of their cakes.
It is widely considered a Southern recipe, although beets are not used in the Southern version of red velvet cakes.
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Red-Beet Velvet Cupcakes
Recipe by: Fae’s Twist & Tango (fae-magazine.com)
INGREDIENTS
• 3 medium red beets (for optimum taste, don’t use canned)
• 250 gr/ 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• dash (1/8 tsp) cinnamon
• 240 gr/ 1 cup + 3 Tbsp granulate sugar
• 3 eggs at room temperature
• 170 gr/ 6 oz (12 Tbsp) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
◊ Place rack on middle oven shelf and preheat oven to 175°C/350°F.
◊ Wrap each beet in foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 70 minutes.
Let them cool. Peel and cut in small pieces, and purée in food-processor.
They should make a little over 1 cup.
◊ Prepare a twelve ½ cup cupcake pan, with paper liners/cups.
◊ Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, in a bowl and set aside.
◊ Keep rack on middle oven shelf and preheat oven to 175°C/350°F.
◊ In a large bowl, using electric mixer, beat eggs with sugar, until creamy. Add soft butter and vanilla and beat a bit longer. Add puréed, roasted beets and fold in with a silicone spatula.
◊ Sprinkle flour mixture in several batches, as you continue to fold mixture.
◊ Spoon thick batter into cupcake liners, and fill each almost to the top.
◊ Bake for 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out almost dry and clean.
◊ Still in pan, on the rack, let cool for 5 minutes. Take cupcakes out of pan and let cool completely on rack.
◊ Decorate with frosting.
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Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Originally, red velvet cake was frosted with ‘boiled icing’ made of milk, flour, butter, sugar and vanilla, derived from a French-style butter roux icing (called ermine icing). But I find this cream cheese frosing recipe simpler and quicker.
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• ½ cup confectioner’s/powdered sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
◊ In a medium bowl, using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla and gradually stir in sugar.
~ Bon Appétit! ~
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So, what’s cooking in your kitchen?
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→ Look, I made it!
July 21, 2013
It had been quite a while that I wanted to participate in Fae’s ‘Look I Made It!’ by re-making one of her fantastic recipes but with a twist. I went through many of Fae’s great recipes and the red-beet velvet cupcake was my first choice because they are so pretty. The twist I wanted to put on it was to make a savoury version of it. (Recipe > Savoury Red-Beet Velvet Cupcakes)
Personally, I am very proud of this dish. I loved how it tasted plus the textures are perfect.
~~ Oi You Food
Oh yummy!
These look perfect. I have been meaning to make red velvet cakes using beet but was a bit scared. Have seen yours and Indu’s- so surely going to try these. Everyone speaks so highly of you, Fae. Had to come over! 🙂 Hope you are having a lovely holiday!
Love your version of beet red velvet cakes Fae. These look ‘more bright red’ than mine! Will have to try your recipe! 🙂
I love beets and I imagine these are great! Beautiful color!
Wow, using beets instead of red coloring is such a healthy idea! Thanks so much Fae! Have to try this out 🙂
Hi Fae! I am so glad that you could make it to Fiesta Friday, considering you are on a lovely, long vacation! Not only that, you brought us exquisite red velvet cupcakes??? You are amazing! Your cakes look so delicious that I am going to have to stand over them to make sure that everyone gets their shareI These crazy FF guest really know how to eat 🙂 I really hope you are enjoying your trip! See you next week? 😎
Thanks for this gorgeous recipe and for giving us the history of this popular cake. They have just risen in my esteem and will surprise my children with their favourite cakes which I previously refused to consider.
I am always apprehensive to eat red velvet cake because of all of the food coloring… this is wonderful!
Madame Fae,
You are right-on to pair these delicious cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. The colors pop, but the flavors must also be divine. I am quite partial to cream cheese frosting. A hummingbird cake, a carrot cake – even a beet cake – is its perfect pair.
How lovely that you took a nod from the history of beets in America (so much better than an artificial coloring agent!). I do adore beets.
Love it Fae. I only made Red Velvet once and never again . Because of the fact it has red food coloring in it. I never thought to use beets for the coloring. I have a friend that loves Red Velvet and I am going to visit them thursday. I will be making this to surprise them. I pinned this to my Cupcake Board on http://www.pintrest.com/savorthefood/cupcakes .
Thanks for sharing this Fae. Bravo, 2 thumbs up!! 🙂
This is a brilliant idea!! I’d heard of beet chocolate cake before, but it’s genius to use the beets for both their color and moisture.
I’m a big fan of sneaking vegetables into sweet things – it’s easier to justify eating them then! 😉
Very interesting. I love the history on this one.
Beets are trending and I have never prepared them with chocolate. Thank you for the logistics of the red beet. I never realized any of it. These look so elegantly delicious! I love them!
Wow ! this is really a fantastic recipe 🙂
I have made beet cake before. This recipe has been around for a long time. I got mine in the 1960’s from a Southernliving cook book. thanks for reminding me of it I will have to make it again. Thanks for all the likes.
Hi Fae. Thanks for the note and also hope it won’t take me that long to get over the kids. When I visited your blog yesterday I had my eye on making these cupcakes real soon. I like the authenticity of them, I will let you know how it goes..fingers crossed.. Take and I’ ll visit often.
How do they taste? Am sure they’re amazing–just curious how you’d describe the flavor. The cream cheese frosting can’t hurt:-) Thanks for stopping by foodforfun’s Frosting on the Cake. Your recipes look like great fun!
Hi Liz, Thank you for visiting my blog. The mild/sweet aroma of the beets is reflected in the flavor of the cupcakes with an interesting creamy decadent taste.
If that makes any sense! The quality of the cupcakes is so high that frosting is just a preference. 😀 Fae.
Wow, these look and sound fantastic !
Thanks for this! I don’t like eating food coloring if I can help it, so this is great! 🙂
This is lovely. I sure bake them soon. My kids will love them. By the way dear Fae, I baked the blueberry cake you send our couple weeks ago, it turned out to be soooooo good. Thank you 🙂
Much love, Feri
These look amazing. Next ‘treat day’ it’s on!
I never knew red velvet cake came from beets, and I love the history. Thanks for the recipe.