Red Velvet Cupcakes

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Cupcakes are just a personal, single-serving cakes waiting to be loved, appreciated, and devoured. I am going to jump right into this one… the less time spent reading, the more time can be spent in the kitchen. But first, I want to explain why I used the ingredients that I did so you can understand how they all work within a raw, vegan, gluten-free recipe.

Almond pulp

Every batch of pulp will differ in moisture; it totally depends on how much of the milk you can squeeze from the nut bag.   Therefore, you may need to adjust the amount of liquids used in recipes containing pulp.  If the almond pulp has a dry feeling, more moisture may be needed, or if the pulp feels wetter, less moisture would probably be necessary.

I don’t recommend any substitutions for the almond pulp. It is the key ingredient that helps create a light and airy cake texture.

Red Velvet Beets?

Another key component of these cupcakes is the beets.  I used whole, pureed beets rather than just the juice, and for a good reason. I tend to find that if I use just beet juice in cheesecake or cake, it causes the color to be “pretty in pink.”  Nothing wrong with that if you want the dessert to be pink.  But for RED velvet cupcakes, you need to use the whole beet. Now, I know what you are thinking, use red food dye…. but not on my watch.  For the standard, baked Red Velvet Cake… bakers use one full bottle of #40 red food coloring!  Want to read some stuff that will cause you to toss your food colorings?  Click (here) for starters and Google some more if you wish to educate yourself more on the matter. Yes, there some “natural” dye colors on the store shelves but I don’t have much luck with those when I want a really strong color.

Sweet Baby Beets

I know what you are thinking… “Amie Sue I REALLY dislike beets!”  I know I know… but I am going to ask you to put a little faith in me and just give this cake a try.  Why do I feel so confident?  I am married to a man who when asked what foods he doesn’t like, he always says BEETS  with the most wrinkled up, disgusted look on his face.  Not only does the tone of his voice tell-all, so does the way he holds his body when he just thinks about them.  All this to say… that he enjoyed every bite of this cake that passed between his lips.  Tip of the day, look for small beets, don’t use large woody ones.  The small ones are sweeter in flavor, and we need all the help we can get to avoid that beet taste from shining through.

Raw Cacao Butter

This is always an interesting ingredient for me to work with.  The best way to melt raw cacao butter is to grate it into uniform-sized pieces, which speeds up the melting process.  The part that makes it interesting to me is that I have a lot of static electricity in my body and it always causes the tiny flakes of cacao to literally jump out of the measuring cup and onto everything.  Worse than dealing with packing peanuts, lol  I tried to take a picture of the process for you, but I will be darned if the stuff didn’t jump from the bowl onto my iPhone. Seriously!  Downright entertains me when I “cook” with it.

I don’t recommend skipping this ingredient either.  It helps with the chocolate flavor (without affecting the color) and with the texture since it firms up a bit when chilled. Enjoy these sweet little cupcakes. They just may bring some extra joy into your life. Blessings, amie sue

Ingredients:

Yields 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:

• 2 cups (280 g) raw red beets, pureed
• 2 cups packed (472 g) Medjool dates, pitted
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 3 Tbsp (40 g) raw cacao butter
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• 4 cups moist, packed almond pulp

Decoration:

• Raw Pretty in Pink Frosting
• Edible rosebuds

Preparation:

Cupcake:

1. Beets:  Wash, dry, and peel the beets.  I used a potato peeler to remove the skins easily. Cut the ends off and rough chop 2 cups worth.
   • Place the beets in the food processor, fitted with the “S” blade, and process until they are fully broken down to a small crumble.
2.  Open the lid of the food processor and scrape down the sides, then place the dates around the perimeter of the bowl.
   • If the dates are really dry, I recommend softening them up by placing them in the dehydrator at 145 degrees for roughly 15 minutes.
   • I normally recommend re-hydrating them in water, but I don’t want the excess liquid absorbed into them to affect the outcome of the cake texture.
3. Add the sweetener, melted cacao butter, lemon juice, vanilla, cacao powder, and salt.  Process to a paste-like texture and then transfer the batter to a large bowl.
   • To melt the cacao butter, grate the pieces into a bowl that can be placed in the dehydrator so it can melt.
   • By grating the butter, it will melt quicker because it is all the same size.
4. Add the almond pulp and mix well with your hands.
   • I recommend gloves if you have them, so the beets don’t stain your hands. :)
   • Using your hands is the best way to ensure that everything gets well mixed!
   • I don’t recommend any substitutions for the pulp… it is what helps to make this cake as amazing as it is.
5. Creating cupcakes: There are several ways to approach this.
   • I used my Mini Cheesecake pan.  See below. Each cavity holds 1/4 cup of batter which is a great size for the cupcake.
   • You could also use cupcake silicone forms.
   • Either way, you will be taking them out of the forms when dehydrating them.
6. Place the cupcake shapes on the mesh sheet that comes with the dehydrator and dry at 115 degrees (F) for 4-6 hours. They will turn very dark in color.
7. Once cooled, frost and decorate!

Tags: Dairy Free, Dehydrated, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Vegan