Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling

For this months I love Cake on Mummy Mishaps blog the theme is vegetables. Jenny herself made a delicious looking Carrot, Courgette & Orange cake but I decided to go down the chocolate route & use beetroot.


I've made beetroot cupcakes once before, following a recipe by Vanessa Kimbell that was tried out by Ren Bahan on her blog Fabulicious Food. I made them with Sam and he gave them to his girlfriend for Valentines Day.

Valentine Cupcakes

The only difference in my recipe is that I don't bother grating the beetroot, that sounded too messy for my liking, so I just whizzed the cooked beetroot up to a puree in my blender. I bought the ready cooked beetroot and used that, you just have to make sure it's not the pickled stuff - although I did use beetroot that had vinegar on it last time (not the stuff in the jars) as I ordered the wrong one on my online shop. This time I went into the store and made sure I picked the one that is just in natural juices.

I love salted caramel so I decided to use this as a filling - just to add a few extra calories that I certainly don't need!

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling - Makes approx 18 cupcakes

225g Self Raising Flour

75g Cocoa powder

280g Caster Sugar

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

3 eggs

150ml vegetable oil

280g Cooked beetroot, blended to a puree 

Filling

1/2 can of Carnation Caramel*

Sea salt
*You can make the Caramel yourself if you prefer - I posted a recipe here a while ago, but if you don't have the time or inclination just use Carnation or similar.

Topping

284ml Double Cream

200g Dark Chocolate (76% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
2 tsp Dark Rum

Sea Salt

• Beat the eggs, oil and beetroot together
• Sieve the flour, sugar, cocoa powder & bicarb. of soda together and stir into the wet ingredients.
• Spoon into the cupcake cases
• Bake in 180 degree C preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes, until they have risen and spring back when touched.
• Leave to cool on a wire rack
• When cakes are cool cut a hole approx 1cm diameter in the top, reserving the cut-out piece of cake.
• Mix the caramel until smooth and add approx 1/2 tsp of salt (to taste)
• Spoon into the holes in the cakes & replace the cut-out pieces of cake.
• Warm the double cream in a pan over low heat, turn off before it comes to the boil and add the chocolate
• Stir the chocolate/cream until all the chocolate has melted, then add the rum
• As the chocolate cools down it thickens, when it is thick enough to stay in place but still thin enough to pour off a spoon it is ready to be used on the cakes.
• Spoon onto the cupcakes and allow to cool
• When ready to serve sprinkle a few grains of salt on the top

Blended beetroot

Yummy chocolate batter

 

Fresh out the oven

Filled with caramel

 

calorie laden heaven!