Hot Pink Cupcakes with a Secret Ingredient!

While browsing recipes one day I stumbled across a simple and colorful cupcake that I knew I had to try on the Barefoot Kitchen Witch. The lovely hot pink color of the batter had me hooked, and the recipe was put on the “Must Make” list. The fun part about these cupcakes is that there is no artificial coloring. at. all. That’s where the secret ingredient comes in.

I love to put veggies into unlikely places. Kale blackberry smoothies. Zucchini chocolate cake. Spinach in a banana shake. (I promise they all taste amazing!) It’s entertaining to surprise people after they eat something by saying “Now guess what was in that….” Or, telling them in the first place to scare them off so there is more for you… Not that I do that… The special ingredient here is a beet!

These cupcakes were a HUGE hit around the house. The cousins are up from downstate and with an abundance of boys from ages 13 to 17 in the house they didn’t last long. They were even devoured by those who claimed to hate beets, and earned “best cupcake ever” from my mom who generally doesn’t like cupcakes. If that’s not a good reason to give them a try I don’t know what is! So, go find yourself a beet or two, some eggs and flour and keep reading so you can “ooh”, “ahh” and exclaim ”Look at this batter! Oh my gosh! It’s so pretty! Wow!” over the colors like I did. Or maybe you don’t get excited about food like I do and can just think it’s a kinda neat color. :D

PS- these don’t taste like beets at all, if you were wondering.

Look at how PINK it is!!! This is edible and 100% natural!

Lemon zest!

Local (maybe even backyard) Blackberries!

They don’t retain all of their former glory, but the color says pretty strong after baking! They have a little tye-dye effect inside with pink and orangey hues.

Topped with a Lemon-Lime frosting, lime zest and a blackberry.

How gorgeous are they!!!?? I would make them just to take pictures of them, it’s just a plus side that they taste amazing! ( ;

Pink Lemon-Blackberry Cupcakes

adapted from Barefoot Kitchen Witch

makes 15-16 cupcakes

1 large beet, cooked and peeled.

1 cup milk

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Zest from 1 Lemon

Blend beet and milk in the blender or food processor until it’s creamy and a wonderful pink color. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add both eggs and mix well. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add to flour mixture, then mix in the beet and milk mixture in small amounts until the batter is smooth. Add lemon zest. If you like, add about 1-1.5 cups of blackberries to the batter.

Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes until you can pull a knife out clean from the center. Let cool on wire racks. Once completely cooled, you can frost them. (I know, it’s hard for me to wait too!!!)

Luscious Lemon Lime Frosting

adapted from food.com

makes enough for 15-16 cupcakes and sample tastes for 5 teenage boys.

3 TB Butter

Juice of one lemon

1 TB milk

3c Powdered Sugar

Lemon and Lime zest

Dash of salt

Cream butter with 1/2c powdered sugar, and mix in as much sugar as you can without it flying everywhere. Then add a little lemon juice and keep mixing. Slowly add lemon juice and sugar little by little. Add TB of milk, salt and zest. If the frosting is too runny just add a little bit more powdered sugar. These measurements are approximate…. I was adding until I liked the consistency :D You may want to check out the original recipe for a better idea of how to make a good frosting. You can frost the cupcakes with the blunt side of a butter knife, and garnish with blackberries and lime twists.

Yummmmmmy.

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