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I first tried these cupcakes last summer at the BlogHer ’14 conference where Canadian Lentils had a booth and were handing these luscious cupcakes out to all of us ladies. They also gave us a great little cookbook, but it did not include the cupcakes. Instead we had to head to their website if we wanted the cupcake recipe. Ingenious marketing!
Making these cupcakes have been on my to-do list ever since last July! So when I signed up to bring a dessert to our potluck, I knew I had the perfect audience to try out this new recipe on. This recipe had me doing a few “first” in the kitchen. I have never roasted my own beets – I know, so easy, but I never have done this before. And making a lentil puree – that too, was a new one for me. I messed up on the puree a bit. I should have added a bit more water to them. Mine was a bit too thick. The puree should be the consistency of canned pumpkin – I learned that after. Other that that I would not change a thing. |
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Red Velvet Lentil Cupcakes
- 1 large red beet (3/4 cup of puree)
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 package (120 g) of cream cheese,softened
- 1 1/4 cups of white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp of vanilla
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 cup lentil puree
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake beets for about 40 minutes (until soft). Note: Preparing the beets ahead of time would speed things up.
- Once beets have cooled, peel and cut into large chunks. Place into food processor and blend until smooth.
- Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and blend until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and blend together.
- In a separate bowl, blend together flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa.
- Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
- Mix pureed lentils into mixture.
- Fold pureed beets into mixture.
- Fill cupcake cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes.
Servings: 12 (I doubled the recipe)
Roasted Beets
- 1- 2 large beets (I wanted extra for my salads)
Directions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees
- Remove the tops and the roots of the beets.
- Cut the beets in half.
- Place the cut beets in a baking pan.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until beets are tender.
Lentil Puree
Ingredients for the Cooked Lentils
- 3 cups (750 mL) of water or broth
- 1 cup (250 mL) of your favourite lentils
- ½ teaspoon (2mL) sea salt
For the Puree
- 2 cups (500 mL) of cooked lentils
- ½ cup (125 mL) of water
Directions for the cooked lentils
- Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Bring the works to a full boil then adjust and lower the heat, just enough to maintain a slow, steady simmer.
- Cover tightly and continue cooking until the lentils are soft and tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
For the lentil puree
- Pour the cooked lentils into your food processor.
- Add the water and process until a smooth puree resembling canned pumpkin forms, two to three minutes.
- If the texture seems too thick, add another tablespoon or so of water.
Lentil Puree Notes
- For every one cup (250 mL) of cooked lentils, add ¼ cup (60 mL) of hot water.
- This puree may be kept in the fridge for up to a week or frozen in plastic bags for several months.
- As a general rule, you can substitute up to half the fat or butter in most baking recipes with lentil puree.
- Substituting lentil puree does have some effect on the final texture but nothing major.
- One cup of dried lentils, cooked and pureed as noted, will yield almost three cups of lentil puree.
Gluten- Free Version
- Omit the lentil puree
- Replace the 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 cup lentil flour
Lentil flour is finely ground dried lentils. Make lentil flour by pulverizing dried lentils in a high powered blender like a vitamix. Using Lentil flour makes for a denser cake.
Sugar-Free Version
You will still have the beet sugar, but no added sugar.
Enjoy!
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