Feed Your Body Friday: Healthy Red Velvet Cupcakes

We often shy away from sweet treats like red velvet because it is full of dyes and sugar that we don’t necessarily need in our diets, but that’s about to change! This recipe will allow you to have a red velvet cake without all the dyes, instead, we will obtain that beautiful red color simply by adding the beet puree

I can already hear some of you saying; beetroot, what a horror!

Personally I love beets. I can understand that its earthy taste can bothersome but you can be reassured, the taste is very subtle so you won’t even notice the beets at all.

The cupcakes are very soft, pretty, and taste amazing! I once brought these cupcakes to a party and no one has been able to identify the secret ingredient.

Healthy Red Velvet Cupcakes

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Serving: 6

Ingredients

Cake

• ¾ cup beet puree
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 ¼ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ¼ c. salt
• 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup milk

Icing

• ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 200g cream cheese at room temperature
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Mix the beet puree and oil in a bowl.
3. Add sugar and vanilla extract to the beet and oil mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.
5. Add the wet and dry ingredients together and mix until combined.
6. Distribute the mixture evenly into muffin cups.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before icing.

Icing:

1. Once your cake is almost cooled, beat the butter until you get a light texture, then add the cream cheese and mix well to have a smooth consistency.
2. Add the sugar and finally, add the vanilla. Mix well.
3. Top your cupcakes with icing and enjoy!

The Red Velvet cupcakes always contain cocoa, so the pretty burgundy color will be more or less dark depending on your beets and the amount of cocoa. If you want to have a real red burgundy, you can cheat and not put the cocoa but the taste of beet will necessarily be more pronounced.

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