Beet It

I'm posting this recipe to enter my friend Tina's beet recipe contest!  And of course, I chose to make a cupcake.  Because, if you're going to eat beets, why not make them into dessert?

In terms of overall taste, these definitely rate a 10!  In terms of discernible beet flavor...well, I'll let the jury decide.  But using a sneaky recipe is the only way I can get my family to eat beets!  We all gobbled these up.

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

• 1 can beets, drained (NOT pickled beets)
• 1 box devil's food cake mix (Gasp! A cake mix? Yes, okay, and I have my reasons. #1-to make this recipe simple to duplicate. #2-cake mixes are very forgiving when you mess around with the ingredients.)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream or mayonnaise (totally optional, but makes for an amazing moist texture!)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Puree beets, then add enough water to them to bring the total volume up to 1-1/4 cups.
3. Combine beets/water with cake mix, oil, and eggs
4. Spoon batter into papered cupcake tin, and bake for 17-20 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 stick butter
• 1 8-oz cube cream cheese
• 1-2 tsp vanilla (depending on how strong your vanilla is)
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar (to taste)

1. Combine butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until creamy.  
2. Add powdered sugar and mix well until desired sweetness and consistency is achieved.

*11/6 Update: This beet challenge turned into a cupcake war between my friend Cari and me!  I won by a tiny margin, with her All Natural Red Velvet Cupcakes coming in a close second.  I might have to take a note from Cari's book, and try adding a little sweetened condensed milk to my frosting...I'm curious now!