Back to the cupcakes themselves. The yield was supposed to be 16 cupcakes, but I got a whopping 30 cupcakes, which I actually had to bake longer than what the recipe said. The most obvious explanation is that I had too much beet purée. The recipe only called for “2 medium beets”, without giving a weight, so that’s the kind of thing that was bound to happen! That being said, even though I could taste the beets, it really wasn’t an unpleasant taste, especially with the chocolate. I couldn’t taste the kale at all. The cupcakes had a nice dome when they came out of the oven, but then they deflated and were very moist and not too sweet. So I actually like these cupcakes, even though they didn’t come out as expected! I liked them plain and I’d consider a vanilla buttercream-type of frosting. They keep well in the freezer.
2 medium beets, greens and stems removed (see note above)
¼ cup water
1 cup cooked kale (I admit I had a bit less)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 pinch of salt
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ½ cups skim milk (I used almond milk)
your choice of frosting (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 °F. Place beets in a baking dish and roast for an hour, or until you can pierce with a knife of fork. Reduce heat in oven to 350 °F. Line a muffin tin with liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray (see note above – I used 2 standard muffin pans, which I had to switch out halfway through baking, and I made 4 more cupcakes after that).
Once beets have slightly cooled, peel the skins off. Cut into chunks and place in a blender or food processor. Add water and kale and blend until fully pureéd. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the applesauce, sugar and honey together until mixed. Add eggs and vanilla and beat. Once mixed, add the beet and kale purée and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
Add ½ of the dry mixture to the beet mixture and stir to mix. Add 1 cup of milk and mix. Add ¼ more dry mixture and stir. Add remaining milk and mix. Add the remaining dry mixture and stir to combine, careful not to overmix.
Fill the muffin cavities about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full with batter. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (it took over 20 minutes for me). Let cool completely. Once cooled, frost with your favorite frosting and garnish with chocolate shavings, if desired.
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