Chocolate cupcakes with a twist (no frosting)

Here’s another addition to the ‘Tada! Beetroots are awesome with chocolate, did you know’ series. I really believe the cupcakes I got at the end of this particular experiment are the moistest ones I have ever eaten. And the chocolate taste really popped, next time I’ll be using avocado for butter too to double the effect (avocado also really brings out the taste of chocolate, use it in a chocolate frosting and see if you think so too). Also since I use baking soda, lots of cocoa powder and don’t add much acidic content, the cake is quite brown so it’s basically a normal chocolate cupcake and not red velvet-like.

I’m thinking I may need to christen these, ‘makes your sullen teenage brother talk to you for a bit and maybe even smile once or twice’ cupcakes. That’s ‘cause I made these when he was on holiday and it was the first day he said up to ten words to me at one time since he got back (yeah, it’s that phase). Maybe there was no correlation or maybe you would call it ‘bribery cupcakes’ instead but I’ll stick to my name above. I ain’t no bribing Nigerian J

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)            

3 medium beets (roast and puree as in this beet red velvet recipe)

9 tablespoons cocoa powder (48g)

2 tsp baking powder (8g)

½ tsp baking soda (2g)

½ tsp cinnamon powder (

½ tsp salt (3g)

1/8 cup buttermilk (30 ml) (Make your own buttermilk with milk and vinegar/lemon juice, see below)

3 eggs (or flaxseed equivalent)

1 cup brown (or white) sugar (145g)

1/2 cup/1 stick butter (110g)

1 tsp vanilla extract (4g)

Ingredient Notes

Makes 16 cupcakes

Make buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk and let sit 10 minutes. Most types of milk work fine - full, low fat, soy etc. You know it's worked when the milk looks curdled, thicker and tastes a bit like yoghurt.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C/Gas mark 5.

Cream butter and sugar, beating at medium speed till pale and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time till incorporated.

Add the pureed beets and vanilla extract and keep beating.

In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add half of the dry mixture to half of the butter mix, stir to combine.

Add half of the buttermilk and keep stirring.

Add the other half of the dry mixture, then the other half of the butter mix, then finally the rest of the buttermilk.

Keep stirring till combined but don’t over mix. You’ll get a thick batter that should be hard to pour.

Pour in cupcake pan or tins, to at most 3/4 height.

Bake 22 - 25 minutes.

Will disappear so fast they won't know what hit them, poor guys.