Makes 12 cupcakes
Preparation time: 45 minutes, plus drying time
Cooking time: 20 minutes
You’ll need:
For the cupcakes:
- 175g caster sugar
- 175g unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 175g self raising flour
- 175g plain cooked (vacuum packed) beetroot, drained (hold a few drops of juice back to use as colouring) and pureed
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
For the icing:
- 300g Icing sugar
- 150g unsalted butter, slightly softened
- a few drops rose flower water, to taste
- a few drops beetroot juice, to colour
For the crystallized rose petals:
- 3 organic pink roses, separated into petals
- 1 egg white
- Caster sugar (a sprinkling)
What to do:
- Make the crystallized rose petals the day before you want to serve the cupcakes.
- They will keep in an airtight box for a few weeks.
- Lay out a piece of silicon-coated baking paper on a tray.
- Pick through the petals and choose the 12 loveliest looking ones and lay them on the tray.
- Brush gently with egg white and sprinkle all over with caster sugar.
- Allow to dry in a warm place for 8 hours before using.
- When you are ready to make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 180˚C/Gas Mark 4.
- Blend together the sugar and butter until light and creamy.
- Add the egg yolks, flour, pureed beetroot and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until fairly stiff.
- Take a large spoon of egg white and beat into the cupcake mixture to loosen it a little.
- Then, using a large metal spoon fold the remaining egg whites gently through the mix, taking care not to over beat.
- Spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake cases and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until the cakes are firm to the touch.
- Remove and cool on a wire rack.
- To make the icing, beat the icing sugar and butter together, either in a food mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon.
- Add a few drops of rose flower water to taste, and a few drops of beetroot juice to colour the icing.
- Spread generously or pipe over the cooled cupcakes and top each with a rose petal.
About this post -
Recipe and photo credit by Love Beetroot
