As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I accomplished a lot of baking over the long Easter weekend. I’ve already posted my ANZAC Biscuit recipe, now it’s time to share one of my St George’s Day creations: St George Cupcakes, a.k.a. Natural Red Velvet Cupcakes.
St George is the patron saint of England and probably best known for slaying a dragon (at least for us who haven’t practised hagiography). St George actually boasts quite a number of patronages, but as I reside in England it is his patronage of this country that is most significant for me. April 23rd is his feast day and is celebrated in England as St George’s Day. The flag of England is the cross of St George: a red cross on a white background. The cupcakes I decided to bake seemed appropriate for two reasons 1) they are red like the cross thanks to plentiful amounts of beetroot and 2) they are made with ale and ale is a (alcoholic) drink that I associate most with England.*
There are various ways that these cupcakes could be completed. On this occasion I made a chocolate ganache (due to ingredients I had on hand) but a more appropriate way would be to do a base icing of buttercream icing and then pipe on a red buttercream icing in the shape of a cross (similar technique to my Victoria Cupcakes). Or, you could forego the St George connections entirely and simply present them as Natural Red Velvet Cupcakes with a cream-cheese-y type frosting because they are RED. Even better, they are naturally red so no need to worry about artificial colourings which makes these cupcakes extra awesome.
St George Cupcakes (makes 12)
a.k.a. Natural Red Velvet Cupcakes
400g cooked and cooled beetroot
100ml ale, dark and preferably English
100ml oil
225g caster sugar
175g all purpose flour
75g cocoa powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
1) Preheat the oven to 180*C and prepare the cupcake tin.
2) Blitz the beetroot, ale and oil in a food processor till blended and smooth (this is rather pretty to watch).
3) Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the luscious beetroot mixture. Mix till just combine – do not over mix!
4) Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcakes, they should be about ¾ full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked.
5) Once cooked, cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack until completely cool. Ice with either a buttercream, cream cheese-ytype frosting or a ganache frosting.
*A word of caution for veggies/vegans: finding a suitable ale can be stupidly frustrating but that’s one of the reasons the interwebs is awesome (i.e. research into suitable ales may be necessary).