{"id":3449,"date":"2011-01-05T15:10:55","date_gmt":"2011-01-05T19:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heidiannie.com\/?p=3449"},"modified":"2011-01-05T15:10:55","modified_gmt":"2011-01-05T19:10:55","slug":"red-velvet-cupcakes-cant-beet-this-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/?p=3449","title":{"rendered":"Red velvet cupcakes: can\u2019t beet this experience!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

picture by Laurel Bocka<\/em><\/p>\n

Recently my oldest  brother celebrated his 70th birthday.<\/p>\n

His family wanted a five layer cake to commemorate the day and I decided to make the top layer.<\/p>\n

The other layers were: bottom- Dark chocolate peanut butter, second-Strawberry Butter cream,<\/p>\n

third-Meringue butter with berry lemon cream, fourth-fresh winter fruit cake with caramel glaze and <\/p>\n

lastly-<\/p>\n

red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate frosting.<\/p>\n

The idea came from a Rachael Ray article from her magazine, Everyday with Rachael Ray<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anyway- we got together the day after we returned from Virginia and so I made the  <\/p>\n

cupcake portion of my contribution at Meredith\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, this recipe calls for red beets rather than a lot of food coloring to make<\/p>\n

the RED part of the cupcake.  That is why I chose to make these- because I knew<\/p>\n

that I could share it with my grandsons without impunity.  So there I was, boiling up<\/p>\n

the beets (with Meredith moaning in the background- apparently she HATES beets!  Who knew?)<\/p>\n

I had just taken them from the oven when the oven guys showed up to measure the wall <\/p>\n

for the double ovens Meredith wants on that wall- so I kept apologizing to Ed and Eddie ( who<\/p>\n

could seriously be a comedy show all on their own! <\/p>\n

\u201cMeasure to this point\u201d \u2013Ed<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, we cain\u2019t take it out to there.\u201d \u2013Eddie\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I know we cain\u2019t take it to there, but I want to measure it to there.\u201d-Ed<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s fine- but we have to keep it to the right size.\u201d \u2013Eddie<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll keep it to the right size- measure to this point, here.\u201d-Ed<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cain\u2019t take it out to there.  It won\u2019t fit- we need to keep 1\/4 inch all around.\u201d-Eddie<\/p>\n

\u201c Well I know that.  We will- measure it out to here.\u201d-Ed<\/p>\n

\u201c We cain\u2019t-\u2026\u201d  <\/p>\n

It went on and on for a good 20 minutes this measuring and bickering.  They were like Mutt and <\/p>\n

Jeff in appearance.  We just sat there \u2013 entranced with the show- until Ed\u2019s phone started<\/p>\n

ringing.  Suddenly, EVERYONE wanted to talk to Ed.  And Eddie wasn\u2019t having any of that <\/p>\n

either.  \u201cJust hang up the phone and let\u2019s get measuring!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I will.  Let\u2019s measure out to this point, here.\u201d-Ed<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Any way- back to the cupcakes.<\/p>\n

\"DSC05008\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

The recipe called for 1 1\/2 lbs cooked beets- pureed.<\/p>\n

You mix brown sugar,eggs,Greek yogurt and melted butter<\/p>\n

\"DSC05009\"<\/a><\/p>\n

and flour, baking soda and powder,cocoa powder and salt.<\/p>\n

And you have batter for lots of cupcakes-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DSC05011\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/p>\n

  • 1 1\/2 pounds beets (4 to 5 medium)\u2014trimmed, peeled and sliced  <\/li>\n
  • 2 1\/4 cups light brown sugar <\/li>\n
  • 2 1\/3 cups flour <\/li>\n
  • 1\/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder <\/li>\n
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder <\/li>\n
  • 3\/4 teaspoon baking soda <\/li>\n
  • 1teaspoon salt <\/li>\n
  • 5 eggs<\/li>\n
  • 4 sticks (1 pound) butter, 2 sticks melted and 2 sticks softened <\/li>\n
  • 3\/4 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt <\/li>\n
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened <\/li>\n
  • 3\/4 cup confectioners\u2019 sugar <\/li>\n
  • 4 ounces white chocolate, chopped and melted <\/li>\n
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract<\/li>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Method:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      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. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \n

      Meanwhile, position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350\u00b0. 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. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    3. \n

      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. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    4. \n

      Make the frosting. Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and the cream cheese until fluffy. Mix in the confectioners\u2019 sugar and pinch salt at low speed. Beat in the white chocolate and vanilla at medium speed until fluffy. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    5. \n

      Using a pastry bag  pipe the frosting generously onto the cupcakes.Sprinkle with red sugar.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

      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.<\/p>\n

      And the Ed\/Eddie show was such a bonus that I wouldn\u2019t want to miss any of the experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      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, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-recipes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}