Saturday, February 11, 2017

Your Cheatin’ Heart: yummy chocolate-beet cupcakes #recipe #veggie #giveaway @AbbottMysteries




Well Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and here WE are with our on-going veggie challenge. What to do???

Don’t forget to leave a comment to be in the draw for the veggie platter shown below!

There's no way we'll give up on our challenge yet and yet, there’s something about that special day that calls out for chocolate treat with a special sweetie, family or friends. 

Could we cheat and have it all?  Although we’d never had one, we had heard of chocolate cakes with beets and that seemed to us to be just the right kind of compromise. To spur ourselves on, we raced out and bought some new gear.  


We waded through recipes and couldn’t find one that had everything we wanted (like that nearly full container of buttermilk) so we mixed and matched and made things up. Do you do that too?

At any rate, the results sounded alarming to the little mister, but even he had to agree the finished product was excellent. 




Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes
Ingredients: 
 
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (We also experimented with a blend of flour and oat hull fiber and they were--surprisingly-just as good. You may not believe this and we understand.)
½ cup best quality cocoa: we used Penzey’s for a potent punch!
1 ¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
 ½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1 extra-large egg, room temperature
1 14 oz can sliced or diced red beets, drained and pureed in food processor
1 ½ tsp good quality vanilla
1 1/2 tbsp cold coffee
2/3 cup buttermilk

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 F
Grease the muffin pan or use liners. 
Sift flour with cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, and salt into a large bowl.
Beat the sugar and oil until smooth. Beat in egg, pureed beets, vanilla and coffee.
Beat in 1/3 flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk until just blended. Repeat: flour, buttermilk, flour. Do not overbeat.
Fill muffin cups to ¾.   We had enough batter left over to make a small cake in a ramekin.  It didn’t last long enough to take a photo. Gobble. Oh well.  
Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes.  
Cool on a rack.  Don’t ice until completely cool, one of many things we’ve learned the hard way.














Ice with butter-cream icing or chocolate cream cheese icing or chocolate ganache whatever frosting you love.
These cupcakes are rich and moist but not overly sweet and that suited us perfectly.  We found that they were better the second day and that means we’ll make them ahead in future. We froze a few and they thawed and were still good in taste and texture. We chose to use a cake decorator tip and make a butter cream rosette rather than ice them all over. You must be true to your own self.  Nudge nudge wink wink.

We hope you’ll savor these as much as we did. Invite your friends, light a few candles and enjoy!




And in case you have forgotten who we are:  Victoria Abbott is a collaboration between me: the artist and photographer Victoria Maffini and other me:  Victoria’s mother, Mary Jane Maffini.


Together, we write the award-winning Book Collector Mysteries. We love writing together and oddly enough, we have fun.   

 




Want to see the books? Here they are!  All are available in print, e-book and audio.







Winner of the 2016 Bony Blithe Award!



Now hear this!
Get in on more fun with  our email newsletter.  All you need to do to get on the list is ask us RIGHT HERE
We’re also on Facebook and love to hear from you. Mary Jane Maffini
and Victoria Abbott

Don't be a stranger!  💘💘💘

49 comments:

  1. Fabulous cupcake recipe and books! EMS591@aol.com

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    1. Thanks, Liz (NoVeggieGirl). And you never taste them. Thanks for coming by and good luck.

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  2. My mother loved beets. My father loved beets. Me, not so much. But I can see that they'd keep your cupcakes moist and add an interesting twist to the flavor.

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    1. Thanks, Sheila. They do and they don't overwhelm the cocoa, so people never guess. Have fooled everyone so far!

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  3. Well, I have put sauerkraut and a can of tomato soup and zucchini in a chocolate cake, so why not beets???!!!

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    1. LOL! I gasped at sauerkraut and tomato soup! Don't forget to include your email addy to be in the draw!!!

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  4. The cupcakes look delectable and enticing. Thanks for this wonderful recipe and giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Always glad to see you here! Thanks for your kind words and good luck in the giveaway.

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  5. I've never been a fan of beets but I could definitely eat them in this cupcake! Thanks for the excellent recipe and the chance to win the beautiful platter! kimdavishb (at) gmail (dot) com

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  6. I've tried a beet chocolate cake before and wasn't happy with the flavor, but these ingredients are a lot different. I'll definitely be trying this one. Thanks for the recipe and the great giveaway!!
    And thanks, too, for one of my very favorite series!!
    harbingerdc(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Aw, thank you! I was a bit worried, but the beets didn't let me down. Good luck!

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  7. I enjoy beets and we always have beets available. Perfect for baking, in salads, soups etc. The cupcakes are yummy. Many thanks. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    1. I am just getting on the beet bandwagon! I'll see where it takes me. Thanks for coming by.

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  8. HAHAHA! Oh..this is so funny...get your veggies anyway you can!! I do a lot with beets..but I have to say..this I have never tried! I agree with Shelia...I can see the moistness with them....but I think my guys would rebel against the cook..if I tried this!! BUT...it goes to show..you can do anything with anything!! the3beersus (at) yahoo(dot) com.

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  9. I was wondering how many times you "had" to try the results until you got your perfect recipe. That must be the fun part. Unless, of course, something is just disgusting. 😱😉
    penmettert@gmail.com

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    1. I see you read between the lines, Ann. Such a hardship this recipe business. Lucky we were happy with it.

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  10. YUM -- you'll have me eating my vegetables in no time -- I love chocolate, and actually am the only one in my family who likes beets. Add coffee, and it sounds and looks delicious. I love the vegetable platter! bobandcelia@sbcglobal.net

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    1. Glad you dropped in, Celia! You could probably add more coffee to it. Good luck in the draw!

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  11. I don't like beets but with the chocolate added I will try it!

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    1. Let us know! Don't forget to leave your email addy to be in the draw. Thanks!

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  12. I love veggies and I admit I am NOT fond of beets, but this might turn me around. Thanks for the recipe and the chance to win a beautiful vegetable platter!! auntnunu21(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    Replies
    1. Well, thank you! We are nothing if not sneaky. Good luck in the draw.

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  13. The only beets I've ever eaten were pickled. I like them fine. My husband hates them so no beets of any form enter our home. I'm afraid those cupcakes won't appear either but I like the idea!
    Pat
    patdupuy@yahoo.com

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    1. We hope you had fun anyway, Pat. My hubby has lots of food hates, but I am very sneaky. Good luck in the draw.

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  14. Since beets are naturally sweet they make great sense here. And they must add a lovely moistness to the cakes.
    Well done!
    You are doing an exemplary job of showing that adding vegetables can be fun and delicious.

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    1. Thanks, Libby! We are having a ridiculous amount of fun with the challenge and trying new things ourselves.

      Hugs.

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  15. My husband loves beets and we grow a lot of beets so this is one for him to bake as it sounds so good . Love your books and thank you for this great recipe and Thank you for the chance to win a wonderful item!

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    1. Thank you! Always glad to see you here. Let us know how he does with the recipe (orchid optional!) Hugs.

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  16. Sounds delish! I would have to use non dairy "milk" because of lactose. I sneek veggies in many foods!
    Electa
    eachonko@hotmail.com

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    1. Thanks, Electa. I wondered about trying some non-dairy. I'm sure it would be fine. So many ways to work about restrictions.

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  17. Very cool, heading to the grocery store next. Will see if this will fool my hubbie as he says he doesn't like beets. I love them. And I love Penzy's but haven't tried their cocoa. Will try that on my next order!

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    1. Pat, the cocoa is out of this world. My friend brings me a batch when she visits and I panic when I run low.

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  18. I love beets---but I could fool my hubby into eating them this way. Thanks for the recipe.
    suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

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    1. Welcome! I bet you could fool him. Good luck with that and with the draw, Sue.

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  19. I love beets prepared in a variety of ways. I have an original red velvet cake recipe the uses beets/beet juice instead of food coloring that is delicious (similar to your cupcake recipe)! servedogmomAT yahooDOTcom

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    1. I didn't know that before I started hunting for recipes. I'd rather have beets than red dye # 2! Thanks for coming by!

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  20. Love this. Love beets and decent recipes that include them have been scarce. Thanks a bunch for this. Della at deepotter (at) peoplepc ((dot) com

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    1. Thank you, Della! Beetlovers have to stick together. I must say I am new to them.

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  21. Interesting recipe, I have never baked with beets before, but this looks like a good one to start with.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

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  22. I don't know if I can get past the mental part of beets being in there...lol! Interesting to say the least. Thanks for sharing!
    Awilcox1182@gmail.com

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    1. It is a leap, Amanda, but of course, you don't taste beets in it, just chocolate. Good luck in the draw!

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  23. Chocolate makes anything taste good, right!! Chocolate and a good cozy!!

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  24. These look really good. Thank you for the recipe. Dmskrug3 at hotmail dot com

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  25. I love the fact that you put beets in your cupcakes and that "little mister" liked them too! Any addition of veggies to our diet is good but in combination with chocolate it's even better.

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  26. Thanks MJ and Victoria for doing the hard work of testing to get these cupcakes just right. Love that not only are beets a sweet and moist addition, but they are full of anti-oxidants. Looking forward to seeing you sometime soon. Would also LOVE to be the lucky winner of the beautiful platter.
    "Anonymous" Nancy R
    jw.nl.reid@sympatico.ca

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  27. I heard if tomato soup in cake this sounds good actually. Donamaekutska7@gmail.com

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  28. amy guillaume lindermanFebruary 14, 2017 at 4:23 PM

    my hubby likes beets! i like them in baked goods only, lol. aelinderman@sbcglobal.net

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