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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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Heidi–I can tell you that the flour, the way I measure it, is 140 grams in 1 cup. As for the beets, I’m not sure, but I measure the beets by volume, so whatever the volume of 240mL would be is a cup of beets.
Hi, thank you so much for creating this recipe! I made them yesterday for a bbq and topped them with blueberries. I really wanted to get the red, white, and blue effect for Memorial Day. Everyone loved them and could not tell they had beets. I was really worried people would taste beet because I tasted it strongly in mine. However, it could just be my palette or the fact that I knew beets were used. The cream cheese frosting was delicious as well.
I would have to agree that a smooth, finely pureed beet mixture is the key to getting that rich red color. My friend’s mother’s jaw dropped when I said I didn’t use food coloring. That was the reaction I wanted. Haha!
I made the cupcakes exactly as written, but used the convection oven setting instead of the “bake” setting. 18 minutes turned out mushy in the center – so next time I would give them 20 or possibly not use the convection since it takes the temp down 25 degrees automatically. Also, they tasted “beety” to me – so for the second batch I used double the cocoa powder and they were much less “beety”. Thanks for a natural version of a popular flavor!
Thanks for letting us know how it went, Sarah.
Thank you, Camille!
Hi Jaime,
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’ve tried baking an all natural red velvet cupcake before, but all of them failed; not even a hint of red when they were done.
I will try your recipe and let you know how it turns out. Thanks again!
Thanks for the receipe, followed it to a T, however, the cakes did not rise at all. They turned out more dense than light and airy.
Any suggestions?
Hm, I wonder what went wrong, Mary. I love at high altitude, so I’m usually the one with that problem. Old baking powder can sometimes lose its umph. Was it that maybe? Otherwise, I don’t know! So sorry.
Good luck, then Fenny!
I have to let you know that I made these today. They turned out with a gorgeous color, texture and and earthy taste that was fantastic.
I also am “across the pond” and had to convert measurements (I really need my old US measuring cups!) and make due with no buttermilk (1/2 cup milk with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice/white vinegar worked just fine).
Thank you for having a great real red velvet cake recipe that I was able to replicate
Yea!!! Rochelle!! I think you are the first person across the pond to report a success!! Where did you find your cocoa powder?
Hey ! I tried these today for Canada’s Birthday celebration ( red & white!) and they were perfect red and moist, only thing is they didn’t rise much so I will have to remember to fill the cups with more batter next time. thanks ! Glad I found your website.
PS: I hate using dyes so loved that I could use a natural food to change the color.
Thanks, Michelle! And Happy Canada Day!
Made this today and they came out great! Thanks for a wonderful recipe! I have been wanting to try these for awhile and found some great beets at the farmers market last week so it was time!
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve made this cupcake thrice and they tasted great. I always get a nice red color, too, I’ve never had problems with them being too brown.
However, I seem to have baking issues. My baked cupcakes would always turn out to be so moist and hollow at the bottom that I would actually just remove the cupcakes from the liners and serve them naked, because the bubble at the bottom is quite unappealing. I don’t understand; I always follow your recipe exactly as it is written. Any thoughts as to why this keeps happening?
Shirley—that is so weird. What kind of cupcake tin are you using? Is it nonstick like mine or aluminum? or some other material?
So glad they turned out well for you, Susanna!
[...] post healthy recipes, and write more about books, but everyone knows it’s the recipes like red velvet cupcakes and raspberry lemonade bars that draw people in. I’m hoping I can find a balance between [...]
is there a reason you roast the beets instead of boiling them?
Jean—Though I haven’t tested the two ways of cooking the beets myself, I chose to roast them because it seems roasting would keeps the intensity of color I am looking for. Priya, who just commented on the red velvet cake, tried boiling her beets and said they came out watery.
Wow… Amazing. I find food colorings used too often these days. Green tea cup cakes are 90% coloring and 10% green tea. This is intelligent!
Made these tonight, and loved them! I’ve never had any kind of red velvet other than the kind made with food coloring. I never understood the hype because other than the color there was nothing special about them. This recipe, however, finally made me appreciate what red velvet is capable of!
I followed the recipe exactly, except for a smidge extra chocolate, couldn’t help it! They were prefectly moist and what the hubby remembers from his childhood. Only change I’d make next time is a little less salt. Thanks!
Thanks, Ranae!! I’m so happy you loved them!
Thank you so much for the recipe. It’s the third one of natural red velvets I tried and finally my cupcake looks red. Finally!
And however mine’s insides and top are red but the sides are slightly brownish. I wonder why. Maybe I should play with oven’s temperature. Also, the beets’ taste is quite eminent in the cupcake. I like it, but the rest of the family has a lifetime goal to never eat veggies or anything that might look like it so this cupcake didn’t seem appealing to them.
Thank you so much for the bunch of great tips. We all appreciate them
Best wishes from the other side of the world, aka Lithuania
Hello there! Could you please share what kind of cocoa did you use? These look amazing!!
I tried to make it once before (the cake recipe) but they also turned out purple… I think it’s because I used canned beets! I am going to try roasting them. Hopefully it works!
Katryna–I used the Hershey’s brand of cocoa powder. But the canned beets will definitely not produce a red cake.
So glad it turned out red, Vita, even if the sides are a little brown. Sometimes mine look like that, too.
Thanks Jamie!
I made 130 cupcakes using your red velvet cake recipe (not cupcake) and they turned out maroonish- I added red dye and they turned a deep pink- which suited me as they were for a girl baby shower lol but I will say to ease the process I used canned beets, which for my purposes helped tons to cut down the time. 130 cupcakes is a lot of roasted beets.
[...] this red coloured cake without dye.” I ended up googling recipes and found this blog called Sophistimom, who had experimented with red velvet cake and cupcakes, and used that recipe (shown below). For [...]
Can this recipe be used to create a cake? Worried the cream cheese from your other recipe will create a denser cake than I am going for.
Also have you tried using Ghirardelli chocolate pieces? It does not appear that they are processed with alkali. How can you tell?
Thanks in advance!
Sarah
Sarah—Yes, you can use this recipe as cupcakes or a cake. You can also just swap out the cream cheese with buttermilk in the cake recipe.
As far as the Ghirardelli chocolate pieces, I wouldn’t try it. I actually used regular chocolate in my first attempt at the cake and they turned it purple.
Thanks for the recipe! I tried it out last night and made 2 batches since I did not want just 12 and my food processor would not fit a double batch. My first batch I mixed like you said with the put everything in at once, but it just did not mix right and the cake mix was really dark red and soupy and the butter did not incorporate into the mix. The cake ended up being dense and did not rise much. For the second batch, I creamed the butter together with the beets, lemon, and vinegar. I added the eggs and mixed some more. I then added the dry ingredients and the buttermilk and mixed until blended. This version ended up being more cake batter like and it rose a bit more.
As for the cake, I liked it. It had a slightly tangy – salty taste to it. I could taste the beets but I knew it was in there so I could have been looking for it. Next time I make it, I may try lowering the amount of salt, lemon juice, and vinegar. My cupcakes had a beautiful red color with this recipe so I hope lowering the acidity a bit will only change the color slightly. I may also up the amount of cocoa powder.
Thanks for the recipe!
Can I use castor suffer in place of regular sugar? And will the amount be the same, 1 cup?
Apologies! I meant sugar!
Fiona—caster sugar is the super fine granulated sugar, but now icing sugar, right? If that is the case, then it will work just fine. Better, in fact, most likely.
SLP–Glad you were able to tweak it more to your liking the second time.
Just wanted to let you know that I followed your recipe back in May for my sister’s birthday and they came out great! They were delicious, moist and the color was amazing! (I have pics). Thanks so much.
Thanks, Alissa! Can you show us your pictures?
Thank you for this recipe. The red velvet cupcake turned out beautifully. The color was lovely and the cupcake was moist and delicious ( so was the frosting). The cupcake was baked inside a black paisley cupcake liner which was lined with tin foil do the contrast of the colors was striking! Thanks again.
Terry
Hi there! I tried this recipe yesterday and it turned around really great
I managed to find beets soft enough that they didn’t need to be roasted – i simply pureed them with a hand blender. Also, I substituted the buttermilk with light sour cream. And, instead of mixing it all in the food processor, I creamed the wet ingredients by hand and folded in the rest of the stuff. worked out fine! Here’s a photo of the finished product! my colleagues whom i gave them to loved them 
http://instagram.com/p/O5xQVTnBt6/
Beautiful, Sarah! Thanks for letting us know how you tweaked the recipe.
Terry—Yours sound like they turned out beautiful! Thank you!
Hi Sophistimom!
I caramelized accidentally the chocolate pastry cream inside the cake and it was so hot outside that the ganache was a little runny, but everyone loved the cake (my brother, an anti-cake person, even ate 2 pieces!!) and one of my dad’s friend ate a piece of cake and convinced my dad to buy me a red Kitchen Aid for my next birthday, so thank you! 
I asked you a few months ago about your red veltet cake (I didn’t have natural cocoa powder), and your answer helped me a lot, thank you!!
I bought beets that where already roasted, so I just had to puree them, but next time I will try to make it harder because the puree didn’t look as soft as yours
The cake I made was super red, fabulous and delicious! But I couldn’t make the cream cheese frosting because I didn’t have powder sugar
I will make the cake again for my 16th birthday, but this time I’ll make the cupcake version, which seems more light (and because I cream cheese is as expensive as gold here and I will use it only for the frosting)
Have a nice day, and thank you again for your fantastic recipe!
Jaime, I used your original all-natural red velvet cake recipe last year and it won first place in our state fair! I’ve made it in both cake and cupcake form and have really enjoyed it. I am excited to try this version, too. Thanks for the great recipes!
Wow! I’m so glad I helped you make an award-winning cake!
I made these cupcakes and need to comment on two reasons why they did not turn out.
The color was fine; however, I believe there was too much beets and the cooking time was way too short. I could see that they were not cooked within 18 minutes at 350 degrees, so left them in for another 5 minutes.
They are rubbery inside and I followed the directions to the letter.
More baking powder might also help. I had to toss mine in the garbage.
sorry but more testing is required here and
I don’t live in Europe but in Vancouver.
Carolyn–It sounds like your oven may be too cool. How long has it been since you bought a new container of baking powder? It needs to be switched out every year, or it’s not as effective.
Jamie,
Thanks for the recipe! I made the cupcakes this weekend and while it didn’t quite achieve that rich dark velvety red that yours has, it was still a hit! I would have taken a picture, but my husband ate them all…23 mini cupcakes! I spared 9 for the office and had 5 myself! LOL. Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Thanks, Kay! So glad you liked them!
I just tried this 2 hours ago and my cupcakes came out perfect!!! they were just as red as yours and nice and moist. I will not use as much salt next time. I have a pic just not sure how to attach it.
Thanks from Toronto