Love and Olive Oil

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes with Ganache and Marshmallow Filling

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes with Ganache and Marshmallow Filling

Well, I did it. I said I would, and by golly, I did. Beet cupcakes.

While I was hoping for a vibrant red along the lines of red-velvet cake, what I ended up with, albeit not crimson red, was by all means delicious. I think at this point I could make beets into just about anything and Taylor would declare them the best ever, (he’s already requested beet ice cream), and these cupcakes were no exception. Ok, maybe not best ever, but they were a rich and moist chocolate cake, with a subtle hint of the beet’s earthy goodness shining through.

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes with Ganache and Marshmallow Filling

I knew I wanted to make beet cupcakes, and when we had a bit of beet puree leftover from another recipe (which I will share shortly), I knew exactly how I wanted to use it. However, I was horrified to discover we were out of butter. Out. I’m never out of butter, yet here we were, with a fridge full of everything except butter. Ok, I lied. I had a few dollops of homemade butter (yes, I said homemade butter. But that’s for another post), but not nearly enough to do much of anything in the way of buttercream.

How does one frost cupcakes without butter? Easy. Chocolate. Chocolate ganache to be exact. But I didn’t stop there. I also decided to pump the suckers full of marshmallow filling. It’s like a mini hostess cupcake. With beets.

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes with Ganache and Marshmallow Filling

Makes 12 cupcakes.

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Ingredients:

3-4 medium beets (about 1 lb)
2/3 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

For Filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter or shortening, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup marshmallow creme

For Ganache:
6 oz. semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wrap beets (skins on) tightly in a layer of parchment paper inside a layer of aluminum foil. Roast for 45-55 minutes or until tender. Remove and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, rub outsides of beets with paper towel to remove skins. Place beets in a blender or food processor and puree. Measure out 1 cup of puree.

Line muffin pan with paper liners.

Whisk together the beet puree, coconut milk, sugar, oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in wet mixture. Stir until just smooth (do not overmix).

Pour into liners, filling each with 3-4 tablespoons of batter (cups should be no more than 2/3 full). For mini cupcakes, fill each with 1 tablespoon batter. Bake 18-20 minutes (or 10-12 for minis), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

For filling, with an electric mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla and heavy cream; beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar. Beat in the marshmallow creme. Transfer filling to a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip. Press the tip into the center of each cupcake, and fill until the top of the cupcake slightly expands. Go slowly, as it is easy to overfill. Wipe away any excess that may squirt out the top, and don’t worry, it’ll get covered by the ganache.

For ganache, place chopped chocolate in a small, heat proof bowl. In a small saucepan, slowly heat cream until just steamy and just barely simmering (do not boil). Pour hot cream over chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. Add butter and stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Spread generously onto filled cupcakes (while still soft, you can also dip tops of cupcakes into nonpareils or sprinkles). Chill 15-30 minutes until ganache is set.

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19 Comments

  1. Very interesting flavor combo, seem very tasty. I’ve featured this recipe on my blog, hoping that you don’t mind, but if you do, please contact me and I’ll remove it. All the best.

  2. I’m lovin’ all your beet recipes! I’m a beet-lovin-fool myself. I see that you mentioned beet ice cream and thought I’d refer you to a recipe that I made last summer…beet frozen custard with sweet and salty turnip chips. Really good! Here’s the link.

    http://velveetaaintfood.blogspot.com/2010/01/if-we-dont-love-our-farmers-who-will.html

    I’m also excited about tryin’ your beet sandwich. Your Moroccan carrot sandwich is still one of my favorites! Thanks for posting! :)

  3. I have always wanted to try using beets in cake! I have some pureed right now as a matter of fact…now I know what I am gonna do tonight :)

  4. Aren’t these the cutest!!!! Gorgeous! I am craving the marshmallow filling already!

  5. Awesome recipe! I’m actually a big fan of beet cakes after I made one that was more like a red velvet cake from a Tyler Florence recipe – it’s very interesting, but delicious, as it uses applesauce in the batter! I think you’d love it –

    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/beet-cakes-with-sweet-greek-yogurt-recipe/index.html

    Vivek

  6. I’ve made something similar before – the beets adds lovely flavour don’t they?

  7. beet root?? how interesting! they look lovely (:

  8. I just love your blog – all your postings are so beautiful! And you make me want to try new things! Thanks.

  9. Wow, i would not have thought of using beet in a cake, but this works well! I love the color with brown!

  10. Mm these look great. I’ve been meaning to attempt something similar for a while now.

  11. Oh man, I love stuff like this!! I saw a beet cake somewhere recently and totally wanted to make it, but these? These are even better. Because they have ganache and marshmallow filling! Like Hostess Cupcakes! With beets! YES!

  12. Absolutely delicious!

  13. So you think I could sneak the beets into these cupcakes without your dad figuring it out? Worth a try, or else more for me!

  14. Those cupcakes are so cute. I understand your butter pain, I was making caramels yesterday did not have enough butter. I NEVER run out of butter :)

  15. awesome to try the beets – I have a recipe tucked away to try, hope it is as awesome as yours

  16. Those look adorable! I once used beets in a Red Velvet cake and it added such lovely (and natural) color. I’d love to play around and make a complete beet cupcake though. And not tell anyone until after they taste it :)

  17. I’m a huge fan of getting vegetables into my cowboy’s diet any way possible. And that includes cupcakes! The only problem is, if he sees the beets first he won’t eat the final product. I’ll have to devise a secretive cupcake baking session in my kitchen…
    Thanks for sharing another gorgeous cupcake recipe :)

  18. Chocolate beet cupcakes and marshmallow filling. Then top it off with ganache. You have outdone yourself! I was curious if they were going to be red like red velvet too…you would think they would be a little bit more red seeing as every time you touch a beet it leaves a pretty little RED, and I do mean RED, mark.

  19. Mmm… looks (and sounds) delish! Maybe one day I will work up the nerve and try something unique like this! :)

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