Recipe: choc beetroot cupcakes

Those bastards at Farmer’s Direct sent me a bunch of beetroot last week. Beetroot! If there’s one vegetable I’ve never wanted to tackle it’s beetroot. Every five years or so, when I fancy my hamburger with beetroot on it, I just buy a small can of the stuff. I don’t grab a bunch from Harris Farm, boil the buggery out of it, peel the skins off, then turn myself and the rest of the kitchen pink slicing it up. I searched my Women’s Weekly cooking bible and it suggested the beetroot would be lovely in salads or as a dip. I couldn’t imagine the Sprogs coming at either of those. So I thought, hmmmm, it’s sort of sweet. I wonder if there’s a cakey application for it? Intelligence on the web suggested it could either be quite terrible or quite lovely in cake, so I gave it a burl in cupcakes. I handed Sprog 1 one, fresh out of the oven, and asked if it was worth icing. She took one bite and told me not to bother. I was a bit crushed, as I had 24 of the bloody things, so I suggested she take another bite. Two cupcakes later she reversed her opinion and told me to ice away. I’ve sent them off in the Sprogs lunchboxes today and eagerly await Sprog 2’s verdict this arvo (I swore Sprog 1 to secrecy about the beetroot). Most recipes for beetroot cakes that I found on the internet were terrifyingly evil. I’ve tried to make my cupcakes a little less naughty, using wholemeal flour and skipping the popular addition of choc bits, but I ended up going the whole hog with the sugar because the batter tasted a bit weird when I held back. So, if someone sends you a bunch of beetroot, give this a go. It’s a clever way to sneak veggies into your kids’ “treats”.

CHOC BEETROOT CUPCAKES

• 1 & 1/2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
• 1 & 1/2 cups raw caster sugar (just cause it sounds healthier)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 cups cooked, mashed beetroot

ICING
125g cream cheese, room temperature, 1/2 cup icing sugar

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Mix flours, cocoa powder and sugar together in a large bowl. Lightly beat eggs, olive oil and vanilla essence together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in egg mixture and mix until just combined. Stir through beetroot and pour into 2 x 12 cupcake trays lined with patty cases.  Bake until firm to touch. Cool on racks. Mix together cream cheese and icing sugar. Ice cupcakes when cool.

NOTE: to cook beetroot, scrub them clean, remove the leaves (leaving the rooty bit at the bottom). Place in a saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 40 minutes until tender. Drain and cool. The skins should slip off easily. But be prepared, it’ll be very messy. Sort of like a pink Pulp Fiction has been filmed in your kitchen.