RED VELVET BEET CUPCAKES

Red Velvet Beet Cupcakes image

Provided by Catherine Cappiello Pappas @LadyGourmet

Categories Cakes

Number Of Ingredients 13

- 3-4 medium beet roots
- 1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1¾ cup white sugar
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- for sweet cream cheese frosting:
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 2 cups confectioner's sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons evaporated milk

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease or line a cupcake pan. Wrap beet roots in aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes or until beets are soft enough for a knife to slide easily through. Let cool, then peel. In a food processor, pulse beets. Add sour milk and blend until smooth. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch and cocoa powder. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla. Alternate adding flour mixture and beet puree to the wet ingredients. Fold each addition with a spatula, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, until you have a smooth batter. Fill each cupcake pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes and transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely. In the bowl of your standmixer with the whisk attachment, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, ¼ cup at a time. Add evaporated milk one tablespoon at a time until a smooth, thick frosting comes together. Top each cupcake with frosting. Refrigerate before serving.