Eggless no food colour red velvet cupcakes

Red velvet cakes and cupcakes, with their bright red color and cream cheese frosting on top are stunning to look at and popular with adults and kids alike. I have shied away from making these because of the huge amount of artificial food coloring that is used to give the cake its vibrant red hue. In my search for alternatives to artificial food color, I stumbled upon this recipe which I recreated in my kitchen. Pureed beets are used in this recipe to give the cupcakes a natural red color.

What you need:
Whole wheat flour - 1.5 cups
Beet - 1 (medium sized, boiled with skin, cooled, peeled and pureed)
Sugar - 1 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1.5 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Cocoa powder - 4 tsp
Curd - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

In a large mixing bowl, take the oil, sugar, beet puree, curd and vanilla extract. Mix well until sugar dissolves. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix. Spoon the batter into a lined muffin pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degree F for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely and frost, if desired.

Verdict:
While the color of the cupcakes was gorgeous,(The photo doesn't reflect how beautiful the color is as I used my mobile camera) there was a slight smell and taste of beets in them and though the spouse and I didn't mind that too much, the child was put off by it. The quantity of beets and using other ingredients that would probably mask its smell is something I am planning to experiment with and will update on this post.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

Another blogging marathon

This year, I finally seem to have kicked off my tendency to let the blog take lo.....ng breaks. January started off with a blogging marathon, where I posted every day, and this month, me and some other blogger friends are doing a 7 day marathon. This time, the marathon is theme based and I have chosen to make Kid friendly recipes. The first dish that I will be sharing with you is a soup that kids will love for its colour and slight sweetness - Beetroot Soup.
This is also a great way to get veggies into a child's diet.

What you need:
Beetroot - 1 small
Onion - 1, chopped into large pieces
Ghee/butter - 1 tsp
Black pepper corns - 5 or 6
Salt

Heat ghee in a pan. Add the pepper corns and chopped onions to it and fry till the onions start to brown. Microwave the beet with skin for 7-8 minutes. Let it cool and then peel off the skin and dice it into large chunks. Transfer all the ingredients to a blender and blend till smooth.
Pour it back into the pan with a cup of water and let it boil.
Note: If you are serving this to adults, you might want to add some more spice in the form of more pepper corns or chillies.
Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena