"One of the most common new year's resolutions I’ve been hearing from my friends is that they want to eat healthier. I think this is great and I've been supportive by telling them that healthy eating doesn’t necessarily have to mean counting calories and sacrificing flavour. In my opinion, the keys to healthy eating are making smarter food choices (reduce processed foods, for example), portion control and consuming calories that count (i.e. foods that have some sort of nutritional benefit).
In the January issue of Chatelaine, we featured The new superfoods – 15 nutritional powerhouses that include such things as prunes, ricotta and beets! If you were enticed by our gorgeous cover photo of Velvety beet cupcakes, you'll be thrilled to know these babies are practically guilt-free as they contain three of our proclaimed superfoods – raspberries, beets and safflower oil. So what does that mean?
Fresh raspberries rule for fibre, with twice as much (8 g per cup) as blueberries have, and frozen ones contain double the vitamin C of frozen blueberries. They score extra points as one of the best sources of ellagic acid, a powerful antioxidant thought to inhibit cancer-cell formation.
Beets are a great source of folate, which guards against birth defects, beets may help detoxify carcinogens and relieve inflammation. The greens are rich in eyesight-saving lutein and zeaxanthin, so eat them too.
Olive oil gets all the glory these days, yet safflower oil, a polyunsaturated fat, deserves praise too. A recent study found cooking with it increased lean muscle, stabilized blood sugar and torched belly fat — which could be promising news for people with diabetes and those battling the bulge.
Make these sinfully delicious, yet virtuous, cupcakes for your next bake sale or party. Your family, friends and body will all thank you."
Velvety beet cupcakes with raspberry icing
Published by Chatelaine on 12/1/2010
Preparation time 15 minutes
Preparation time 25 minutes
Makes 12 Cupcakes
Ingredients
1/4 cup frozen raspberries
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Fry's
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 398-mL can beets, rinsed, drained, patted dry
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup safflower oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 250-g block light cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup icing sugar
1.Measure out raspberries and leave on counter. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cups or spray with oil. Stir flour with cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Purée beets in a blender or food processor. Beat sugar with oil in a medium-sized bowl, using an electric mixer, until combined, 2 min. Beat in egg, then beets and vanilla. Gradually beat in one-third of flour mixture just until blended, then half of buttermilk. Repeat additions, ending with flour mixture. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
2.Bake in centre of oven until a cake tester inserted in cupcakes comes out clean, 20 to 25 min. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 min, then remove cakes to a rack to cool completely before icing.
3.PUSH raspberries through a sieve into a bowl, using the bottom of a ladle. Discard seeds. Stir in cream cheese and icing sugar until evenly mixed. Spread over cooled cupcakes.
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