picture by Laurel Bocka

Recently my oldest  brother celebrated his 70th birthday.

His family wanted a five layer cake to commemorate the day and I decided to make the top layer.

The other layers were: bottom- Dark chocolate peanut butter, second-Strawberry Butter cream,

third-Meringue butter with berry lemon cream, fourth-fresh winter fruit cake with caramel glaze and

lastly-

red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate frosting.

The idea came from a Rachael Ray article from her magazine, Everyday with Rachael Ray.

Anyway- we got together the day after we returned from Virginia and so I made the 

cupcake portion of my contribution at Meredith’s house.

Interestingly, this recipe calls for red beets rather than a lot of food coloring to make

the RED part of the cupcake.  That is why I chose to make these- because I knew

that I could share it with my grandsons without impunity.  So there I was, boiling up

the beets (with Meredith moaning in the background- apparently she HATES beets!  Who knew?)

I had just taken them from the oven when the oven guys showed up to measure the wall

for the double ovens Meredith wants on that wall- so I kept apologizing to Ed and Eddie ( who

could seriously be a comedy show all on their own!

“Measure to this point” –Ed

“Now, we cain’t take it out to there.” –Eddie”

“Well, I know we cain’t take it to there, but I want to measure it to there.”-Ed

“That’s fine- but we have to keep it to the right size.” –Eddie

“I’ll keep it to the right size- measure to this point, here.”-Ed

“We cain’t take it out to there.  It won’t fit- we need to keep 1/4 inch all around.”-Eddie

“ Well I know that.  We will- measure it out to here.”-Ed

“ We cain’t-…” 

It went on and on for a good 20 minutes this measuring and bickering.  They were like Mutt and

Jeff in appearance.  We just sat there – entranced with the show- until Ed’s phone started

ringing.  Suddenly, EVERYONE wanted to talk to Ed.  And Eddie wasn’t having any of that

either.  “Just hang up the phone and let’s get measuring!”

“Well, I will.  Let’s measure out to this point, here.”-Ed

Any way- back to the cupcakes.

The recipe called for 1 1/2 lbs cooked beets- pureed.

You mix brown sugar,eggs,Greek yogurt and melted butter

and flour, baking soda and powder,cocoa powder and salt.

And you have batter for lots of cupcakes-

Ingredients:

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the beets and 2 1/4 cups water to a simmer over medium heat; cover and cook until fork-tender, about 35 minutes. Transfer the beets with a slotted spoon to a food processor, reserving the cooking water. Puree the beets. Add the reserved cooking water as necessary to get 2 1/4 cups beet puree; transfer to a medium bowl. Whisk in the brown sugar and let cool.

2. Meanwhile, position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350°. Line a dozen 1-cup muffin cups with jumbo baking liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

3. Whisk the eggs into the beet puree. Whisk in the melted butter and yogurt until smooth. Add the dry ingredients in 2 additions, stirring with the whisk until smooth. Spoon the batter into the cupcake cups. Bake until springy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool for at least 30 minutes.

4. Make the frosting. Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and the cream cheese until fluffy. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar and pinch salt at low speed. Beat in the white chocolate and vanilla at medium speed until fluffy.

5. Using a pastry bag  pipe the frosting generously onto the cupcakes.Sprinkle with red sugar.

This was a lot of work- and kind of expensive- but the cupcakes were very good.  And they are kind of good for you.  And they keep wonderfully in the freezer.

And the Ed/Eddie show was such a bonus that I wouldn’t want to miss any of the experience.

My mom would make it in early November and wrap it in cheesecloth soaked in brandy until Christmas.  So it is fruity and nutty and a little boozey.

The recipe – typical of ALL of my mother’s recipe is basically a list of ingredients with  temperature and baking times tacked on the end.

Fruitcake:

2 cups flour

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 pint marachino cherries

1/2 lb. candied pineapple

1 lb. dates

1/2 lbs pecans

1/2 lbs. walnuts

1 lb. candied fruit mix

5 eggs, beaten

BAKE at 250 degrees F for 2 1/2  to  3 hours.

Just smell the deep and festive mix of  fruit and nuts!  

CLOSE UP!!!

Add flour, sugar and baking powder and stir until all of the flour and sugar is incorporated.

This smells so good!

add beaten eggs  to mixture  and stir well.

The dough is thick and looks very sticky.

Grease pans liberally and use wax or parchment paper to keep mixture from sticking to sides of your pan.

Now you can decorate the cakes, using candied pineapple and the red and green glacee cherries.  Cut the green pineapple into leaf shapes and the red into petals- pop some cherries in for the centers and you have bright and happy little fruitcakes!

You can make them in smaller sizes or in a large loaf pan- just make sure that you use parchment or wax paper and lots of Pam to keep them from sticking.

Happy Holidays- and don’t forget to wrap them in whiskey or brandy soaked cheesecloth for a couple of weeks, at least!