Raspberry-Beet Valentine’s Day Cupcakes are a delectable and beautiful natural red velvet. With a perfect, smooth Buttercream frosting, and pretty pink sprinkles, these will surely wow your sweetie! And these are gluten-free Valentine’s Day cupcakes, to boot.
Chocolate, raspberries, beets, buttercream, hearts, love and red. . . . these are a few of my favorite things.
And guess what? They’re all blended together in these super cute, delicious Raspberry-Beet Valentine’s Day Cupcakes! How great is it that the deep, burgundy beets and the rich, red raspberries replace red food coloring? Those ingredients are the key to these natural red velvet cupcakes.
It’s fantastic, I know. And not only do they bring their gorgeous colors, but they add their wonderful flavors, too. The tart and sweet raspberry with the subtly sweet and earthy beets are the perfect balance to the chocolate. Yes, chocolate — you can’t really have a Valentine’s Day treat without chocolate!
I should also mention these are gluten-free Valentine’s Day cupcakes. And you’d never know it!
These are the most brilliant, beautiful ingredients ever! And the pretty fuchsia color becomes a vibrant red inside the cupcake after it’s baked! It’s a stunning, natural red velvet!
Do not be daunted by the somewhat long list of ingredients. You can easily break the recipe down and do some of it way ahead of time.
What to make ahead for the Raspberry-Beet Valentine’s Day Cupcakes:
- The Buttercream frosting. Here’s the recipe. This you can do up to four days in advance — just bring it to room temperature before you use it.
- And the beets for this recipe have to be roasted first. You can do this up to two days in advance. Remember when we did this? Here’s how.
It’s so easy to make these awesome DIY heart shaped cupcakes.
Fortunately, I have two young boys who leave marbles all over the house — if that’s not the case for you, you can roll up bits of foil about the size of small marbles to do the same trick.
So spread some love around this Valentine’s Day — and everyday — with these Raspberry-Beet Valentine’s Day Cupcakes.
And if red isn’t your thing, there’s nobody who doesn’t love my Valentine’s Day Nutella Brownies Full of Heart.
I made these gluten-free Valentine’s Day cupcakes for my oldest son who has Celiac Disease. I certainly can’t leave him out. 🙂
Enjoy your natural red velvet, Raspberry-Beet Valentine’s Day Cupcakes — even if it’s not Valentine’s Day!
You can also check out more delicious recipes by following my Valentine’s Day Pinterest board.
Raspberry-Beet Valentine's Day Cupcakes are a delectable and beautiful natural red velvet. With a perfect, smooth Buttercream frosting, and pretty pink sprinkles, these will surely wow your sweetie!
- 2 1/4 cups (about 2 large) beets, roasted, peeled, roughly chopped beets
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 1/4 cup Greek style plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon pur vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cacao powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
- 2 cups Buttercream (click here for the recipe)
- sprinkles I like pink
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 (1 dozen) muffin pans with paper cups. (To make heart shapes, you can use a marble, or a crumbled piece of foil, to place between the outside of the paper cup and the inside of each circle. (See above images.) Set aside.
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In a blender, purée the roasted beets with the buttermilk and fresh raspberries. Blend until it’s as smooth as possible, about 1 minute on high.
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Pour the raspberry beet mixture into a large mixing bowl and stir in the yogurt, vanilla, lemon juice, sugar and salt.
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Use a large fork to blend in the egg.
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Then, stirring constantly, gradually add the oil and mix until blended.
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Now sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder. (You can just place a large mesh strainer above the bowl to sift.) Mix just until it’s blended.
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Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
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Use an ice cream scoop (or large spoon), to fill each paper cup about 3/4 the way up.
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Place the muffin pans on baking sheets and bake in the preheated 350 degree F oven until the cupcakes are set and slightly cracked on top, 20 to 25 minutes.
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Let the cupcakes cool completely and then spread a thin layer of the Buttercream on top and sprinkle with colored sprinkles (if desired).
Please note that the prep time does not include roasting the beets or making the buttercream. (Combined, these two steps take about 1 hour, 5 minutes.)
Pia says
February 1, 2013 at 5:29 pmYum! I HAVE been waiting for this recipe all week! Can I substitute any other oil for the grape seed? I don’t have any on hand…
valentina says
February 1, 2013 at 5:32 pmHi Pia! Yes, you can use vegetable or canola oil, too. Enjoy and have a great weekend! 🙂
Pia says
February 6, 2013 at 2:29 pmThank you!!! These were amazing!!!
valentina says
February 6, 2013 at 8:29 pmPia – I’m thrilled you liked these! I love that the color is totally natural (& delicious). Happy early Valentine’s Day to you! 🙂
Deb says
February 1, 2013 at 5:41 pmThe combination of raspberries a with the beets is outstanding! The lovely heart cupcakes are a perfect start to February!
Colette says
February 1, 2013 at 6:53 pmClever, clever, clever….
Judy at Two Broads Abroad says
February 7, 2013 at 5:03 pmVery clever. I was waiting to see this. Nicely done.
valentina says
February 10, 2013 at 1:12 amThanks, Judy! xo
Jeremy says
February 7, 2013 at 6:57 pmAs I always say the way to anyone’s heart is via their stomach. 🙂 These cupcakes actually reminded me of the gift I’m gonna give to my girlfriend on Valentine’s Day. I’ve made a private booking for one of the courses organized by Zac’s cooking school here in Vancouver – cooking classes for couples and this recipe will most certainly be among the first ones we’ll try together. So it fits in perfectly with my romantic plans. 🙂
valentina says
February 10, 2013 at 1:12 amJeremy, sounds like an awesome gift! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Oxana Miron says
February 15, 2013 at 2:16 pmHello Valentina,
I need your help =)
First of all, thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! I have never made cupcakes before, and decided to make some for this valentines. I found your recipe the most interesting and healthy.
I followed the recipe, except I used 1/2 of truvia (the package says use 1/2 for a cup of sugar) and 1/4 of brown sugar instead of 1-1/4 cup granulated sugar as your recipe suggested… and maybe this messed everything up…
So, the dough come out a little thin, and I added some more flour. Not too much though.
The cupcakes didn’t rise at all. And it took me at least 40 minute until they cooked through (I used toothpick to check). They came out tasty, but not puffy or spongy at all. And they stuck to paper cups. While the outside was a little overcooked (it got crispy), the inside was still a little undercooked, but overall they were eatable.
What do you think was my mistake?
I used a hand mixer to mix the dough. Also, I added soda before flour…
I still have the mix left. Is it possible to make any adjustments to it to make cupcakes rise?
Also, what should I do next time to avoid this?
THANKS so much!!!!
valentina says
February 15, 2013 at 5:06 pmHi Oxana, thanks for writing in about this . . . the only thing I can think of is that using Truvia may have changed the batter. Having never baked with it myself, I’m not sure, but since it seems to the only thing you changed, it’s my best guess. Did you use both the baking soda and baking powder? As for the crispy outside and sticking to the cups, that may have been because they baked for an extended period of time. I’m not sure using the remaining batter is a good idea since you didn’t have success with it — I’d start fresh. I wish I could bake them with you to see we solve the problem. Please keep me posted! 🙂 Thank you for your interest in my recipes!
Jeanne @JollyTomato says
February 9, 2015 at 11:26 amI’m not sure if I ever mentioned this to you, Valentina, but I shared this recipe with my sister, whose family is gluten-free, and they LOVE it. It’s part of their annual Valentine’s Day must-make list (as it is ours as well). xo
valentina says
February 9, 2015 at 2:05 pmJeanne, I LOVE that! Thank you for passing it on and for sharing with me. So appreciate it! OXOX
Heidy says
February 13, 2018 at 4:05 pmAmazing idea combining these ingredients…who would of thought about that combo? I can’t wait to try it out!
valentina says
February 13, 2018 at 9:41 pmThanks Heidy. Hope you like them a much as I do. 🙂
Sara says
February 13, 2018 at 6:52 pmThese are gorgeous cupcakes! I have to try this recipe!
valentina says
February 13, 2018 at 9:41 pmHope you do, Sara. 🙂
Emily says
February 13, 2018 at 8:30 pmWhat a clever way to turn cupcakes into heart shapes! These look delicious!
valentina says
February 13, 2018 at 9:41 pmThanks, Emily!
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
February 14, 2018 at 1:53 amThese are super cute in their heart shapes and I love the inspired use of beets and raspberries for the colouring. Great idea!
valentina says
February 15, 2018 at 9:42 pmThanks so much! 🙂
Marisa says
February 14, 2018 at 4:05 amWhat a gorgeous color! I’m super impressed. I’ve wanted to try doing this but always fear it won’t look as rich… but this does!
valentina says
February 15, 2018 at 9:41 pmIt does! Hope you try it sometime. Thanks so much.