Valentines Day.  Pink, Red, and Hearts right? Cupcakes too?

These cupcakes or heartcakes have it all! Without any food coloring or dye.
A seriously moist chocolate cake from the all the butter…I mean beets, they are moist from the beets.

We keep getting beets in our Johnson’s Backyard Garden CSA box.  Honestly, no one in the family is a superfan of beets (send your recipes if you want to win me over!)  I was about to give them to my beet-loving mom but then thought, oh, wait…..I can dye frosting with them for Valentines Day.  That very next day, Joy the Baker posted a recipe for a cake using beets and the pink frosting dyed from beets!  So, it was in my destiny…I would make this recipe.

We have been trying to make baked goods without white sugar, but I went with this recipe, this time.  I pretty much followed it all the way.  I did not add as much mashed beets to the frosting as it calls for – so my frosting is a lighter pink.

UPDATE: (2/14/13)  I have made some changes to the original recipe.
I used 1/2 coconut sugar and 1/2 granulated sugar – I will try it with all coconut sugar soon.
I increased the vanilla to 2 tsp.
I reduced the butter to 3/4 cup in the icing recipe.
I made cupcakes, which bake in about 16-18 minutes; or mini-cupcakes in about 10-12 minutes.

Beeting Hearts.

Find the recipe here:
Joy the Baker’s Chocolate Beet Cake with Beet Cream Cheese Frosting.

 
 
 
I found the heart muffin/donut pan at Michaels on clearance.
Guess what kids in my Kids Kitchen class?
We will be making beet cupcakes in class this week!
 
Happy early Valentines Day!