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all natural red velvet cupcakes
Since last year, when I posted my all natural red velvet cake, which I made without red food dye, dozens of people have tried my recipe. For some, it worked well, and for some, it did not. Making a cake is hard enough without the addition of carefully balancing the pH levels, and it seemed everything affected the outcome of the color, whether it was the type of flour used, the type of cocoa, fineness of the ground beets, and on and on and on. People in Europe, for some reason, had the most difficult time with it, and I have yet to hear of a reader across the Atlantic who got a red cake at the end of it.
I must confess, in the midst of some of the frustrated comments, I tried making the cake again, only to come up with a slightly purple version. I started to wonder if maybe it was the fact that I used Philadelphia Cream Cheese (my normal standard) instead of the brand I can buy in bulk at Costco, which I had used for the cake back when I made my post.
I became almost as disgruntled as some of the readers who commented.
After awhile, though, I thought I should make an another attempt. People kept asking if there is a way to lighten up my cake, or if it’s possible to turn the cake into cupcakes, so I finally decided it was time to try it again. I bought the beets, which then sat in my fridge until the fridge started smelling funny. To my relief, it wasn’t the beets, but rather a rogue cucumber that no longer looked like a cucumber, but it was the nudge I needed to get to work on the cupcakes.
My first job was to be absolutely sure the beets were well roasted. I probably roasted them for at least ninety minutes—I wanted the puree to be very, very fine—like baby food. My next step was to try and make the recipe easier by using buttermilk. It is very acidic, no matter what brand you use, and it would be a lighter alternative to the cream cheese, which may or may not have been the culprit in turning my last cupcakes purple. Finally, to make the recipe a little easier, and to dirty fewer bowls, I blended the entire thing in the food processor, right where I had pureed my beets.
So to everyone who will attempt this recipe, good luck to you. My fingers are crossed that yours will be as red as mine.
all natural red velvet cupcakes
3/4 cup beet puree (directions follow)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter (8 tablespoons), at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (not bleached flour)
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon natural cocoa powder (not Dutch Process, or dark cocoa powder)
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a standard muffin tin with paper cupcake liners. Empty the food processor of the beet puree (see below). Measure out 3/4 cup of beets and add it back to the food processor fitted with the steel blade attachment. Save any extra beet puree for another use. Add in vinegar and lemon juice (if you didn’t already add it when you were pureeing the beets), followed by the rest of the ingredients. Pulse the mixture a few times until the batter is smooth. Scoop mixture evenly into cupcake liners.
2. Bake for 18 minutes, or until the cupcakes in the center spring back up when touched. Remove cupcakes from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting (I used a large pastry bag and a large star tip—Wilton 1M).
roasted beets
2 medium beets, or 1 large beet, scrubbed and rinsed
1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Fill a small roasting dish with 1/2 inch of water. Place beets in the water, and cover with a piece of parchment paper and a large piece of aluminum foil. Roast for 60-90 minutes, or until the beets are very tender to the point of a knife.
2. When beets are cooled completely, peel, and cut into large chunks. Place in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process for 2 minutes, or until extremely smooth. If the beets need a little moisture to help them along, you can add the lemon juice and the vinegar from the recipe above, and then just don’t add it later.
cream cheese frosting
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.
227 Responses to “all natural red velvet cupcakes”
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Those look beautiful! I’m going to have to try it!
I’ve been wanting to make your natural red velvet cake but we don’t have natural cocoa powder in Germany.
I’m assuming we don’t have it at all in Europe, which would be why none of their cakes came out.
Your cupcakes, like your cake, look amazing. I can’t wait to make these! I just need to get some natural cocoa powder first.
Erin—Maybe that is the the problem!
Have you ever tried getting it on amazon? Or would the shipping be too high?
http://www.amazon.com/Hersheys-Cocoa-Natural-Unsweetened-8-Ounce/dp/B001EQ5AHW/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1334298658&sr=8-15
Thank you, Mariah, and good luck!
Shipping would be really high but I only need a small amount since I would only use it for this recipe. I’ve never come across any other recipes that specified that it must be natural cocoa powder, and I guess I should enjoy the cheap prices of the Dutch-process cocoa over here while I can.
The next time someone sends me a package I’ll ask them to put 1/2 cup of cocoa in a baggie for me. Then I can make this recipe 8 times!
Here’s an interesting article about cocoa powder if anyone is interested:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/02/cocoa-powder-faq-dutch-process-v/
He says that people outside of the US have a hard time getting natural cocoa powder, so maybe it’s not just Europe with this problem, but the whole world. And it’s just labeled here simply as cocoa. It doesn’t say dark cocoa or Dutch-process. The boxes just say ‘cocoa’ which is why people probably thought they were buying “natural” cocoa.
I’d love to try it myself! I love red velvet, but I always use the coloring… a natural way to color is definitely worth a shot!
Lori–And the beets are actually quite good. They add a texture a little bit like carrots in carrot cake. I hope you try them!
That color in that cake is amazing! Love that it’s all natural!
I want one.
I used your cake recipie and just made cupcakes with it for my family this year to celebrate Easter. Although the cake did not appear as red as yours, it tastes AMAZING and has now been requested for future family functions. Thanks!
I really love how nice your cupcakes came out. I’ve used beets before to make pink Valentine pancakes and know how hard it is to get it to color properly. These look fabulous! I love the deep rich red color.
Okay – I’m going to have to try these. I have a HUGE aversion to food coloring, but my oldest daughter loves red velvet. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
Thanks, Lauren!
Laura—Next time I make them . . .
Thank you, Traci!
Deena—Good luck!!
I’m so glad they liked the cake, Lesley!!
What a coincidence! I had a reader email me requesting a recipe for all-natural red velvet cupcakes and I actually sent her to your cake recipe. Just a few days later you post this
I can’t wait to try! Food coloring is creepy.
You are a genious! I have been searching high and low to find a recipe for red velvet that didn’t have an entire bottle of nasty food coloring but still had a real red color- thank you, thank you, thank you! The beets are roasting at this very moment!
I’d love to post this recipe on my blog if mine turns out (with lavish praise and credit to you of course), if it’s all right…
Red Velvet is my son’s favorite cake but he LOATHES veggies of any kind. I’ll have to bake this for him when he’s not looking.
Thanks, Shannon,
I hope yours turns out well!
Good luck, Melanie! It worked for my picky kids, so best of luck to you, too!
Thanks, Deena! I’m crossing my fingers for you!
We LOVE the cake from the earlier post and my son requested it for his 4th birthday which is on Saturday. I really want to try the newer version as I was meaning to make it into cupcakes this time.
I just have one question: here in Israel we only have cultured buttermilk, would it still work? should I try making old-fashioned buttermilk?
These are so beautiful! I’ve heard you can make these with beets, but I’ve never tried it. I wonder how much of the beet flavor you can taste in the cake?
Jen–I personally don’t think these taste like beets, although they do have a slight earthy flavor when you first bite into them, which develops into chocolatey, smooth, sweet, and even a little tangy. I’ve said this before, but they really don’t taste any more “beety” than a carrot cake tastes carroty.
Hi. I may have missed it somewhere, but could you tell how many cupcakes this recipe makes? Can’t wait to try it!!
I just attempted this recipe for the first time. I don’t think 1 tbs was enough cocoa. The cupcakes came out an amazing color and did taste really good but the beet flavor was strong. I happen to love beets so I’m kind of love my beet cupcakes. However, next time I will up the cocoa a bit.
I also subbed in whole wheat pastry flour and they still came out with a great texture and color. They didn’t rise too much and the tops got pretty flat but I didn’t mind because it made frosting easier.
Last thing I have to say, this frosting recipe is AMAZING! I’ve tried a lot of different frosting recipes but this one is definitely my favorite to date. It has a nice fluffy consistency and the taste kind of reminds me of marshmallow but not exactly. I couldn’t stop eating it!
Hi
Just tried your cake and it turns out light brown. Buttermilk is expensive in Asia and I had normal milk but with an added lemon juice to make a homemade buttermilk. Wondered if there had been a tad too much lemon juice in the recipe making it light brown or the fact that I had used canned beets instead.
would appreciate some help as I really like red velvet cakes and have been trying to perfect making one.
thanks.
Carolyne—Acid of any kind in the recipe won’t make it brown, only base or alkali. I think the canned beets were probably the main factor, as they don’t have as much pigment as something fresh. Also, what kind of cocoa did you use? I’m hearing from people around the world that it’s had to find cocoa outside of the US that doesn’t have alkali. The cocoa should be a very light brown color, not dark or with a slightly blackish hue. Hope that helps.
Wendi–It makes 12. Thanks for asking, and good luck.
I made these cupcakes today as a trial run for my baby’s first birthday. They were absolutely scrumptious! The color turned out beautiful, maybe slightly pinker than in your photos, but certainly worthy of the name red velvet. And they didn’t taste like beets at all. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I should add that I used brown rice vinegar instead of regular rice vinegar and it turned out just fine.
Laura—That’s great to hear! And thank you for the tip about the vinegar!
Thanks Jamie.
Will try it again with fresh beets.
We can get cocoa that are light brown in colour as well.
Thank you for this recipe. Beets just got roasted. Will be baking cup cakes in the morning. Will let you know how it goes.
Thanks, VanillaTruffle. Hope they turn out well.
Baking is over. Cup cakes color was light maroon – no where near the color posted in photos above
. My 4.5 year old could not wait to try them. After he took two bites, he said: “I am full mom.” He is not a picky eater, but sadly he was not fond of their taste. I tried cupcake too and I liked them. They do have earthy taste to them, but I don’t mind it all. If you are ok with carrot cake, you will be fine with this cake too. May I add that icing was exceptional? I made 24 cupcakes and was supposed to bring them to picnic for kids. Given my son’s feedback, I think I will be taking these to work instead and buy batch of cupcakes from Ralph’s for the little ones. What’s one to do? With a small baby, These is only so much time in my hands. Again, thanks for the recipe and for sharing your experience.
Here some more feedback on my cupcake adventure. I offered one to my spouse and he loved it. He could not tell that there was beet in it. My baby’s nanny and her family stopped by and picked a dozen. Three minutes later she called and said that 5 of them were already gone. They absolutely loved them.
:):).
I made this recipe in Michigan and they turned our perfect. Very red with really good flavor. Thanks for making the cupcake recipe, it’s a hit with the whole family!
I made this recipe in Michigan and they turned our perfect. Very red with really good flavor. Thanks for making the cupcake recipe, it’s a hit with the whole family!
Thank you, Sarah!! So glad they turned out well!!
This is a great way to use beets.
Can I say: OH. MY. GOSH.
Seriously, the most amazing and red-velvety cake I’ve ever tasted. They turned out a beautiful red, but I did make a substitution–after being extremely giddy coming home from the store with a beautiful bunch of beets, I realized I had no buttermilk! I also had no whole milk, so I “made” my own version of buttermilk using 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and enough cream to make 1 cup of the mixture. I was scared, but they turned out great! I always hate using such expensive and messy food coloring, but the beets didn’t stain anything, and I have a lot of puree to use again. Thanks so much for this wonderful alternative!
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27668667@N03/7156067488/
Rebekah! They turned out so beautiful!! Thank you for showing us!
Followed to the letter except I boiled my beets and used a tiny bit of the reserved red liquid to process . I did notice that the more I processed the beets the redder they got they started out burgundy and then turned brilliant red. I just added a teaspoon of the liquid to emulsify them. They turned out fabulous just like your picture and they taste great even without cream cheese frosting.
Thank you, Ruth!
Hi, I am a newbie in bakinghood, and would like to ask a simple questions. U are using food processor instead of mixer for the batter, and put all the ingredients just like that? No special treatment on which one should go first? Can i just use Blender? If i’m using dutch cocoa, it will only change the color but not the taste, am i right?
Hi, I am a newbie in bakinghood, and would like to ask a simple questions. U are using food processor instead of mixer for the batter, and put all the ingredients just like that? No special treatment on which one should go first? Can i just use Blender? If i’m using dutch cocoa, it will only change the color but not the taste, am i right? Thank you
Amelina–Yes, you would just put everything into the food processor at once. As for the blender, it would depend on how good your blender is. Mine couldn’t tackle the job, but a Vitamix could. And yeah, I think the cocoa powder will just affect the color, and the taste is a little stronger, too, so I might use a little less. Hope that helps.
Hi Jaime,
Can you please tell me the actual weights in grams for the flour and the beet puree on this beautiful recipe?
Thank you.
Outside of the US you can find natural cocoa in organic shops. I live in Germany and use the cocoa from Naturata, which isn’t alkali.
http://naturata.de/de,26afcb8a90edc9578e704f53d86a7dca,e4ec35393cdd2ecdc4962c3a92f5642e,4024297007593.html
Oh, that’s great news, Dora!! Thank you!