I’ve been on vacation for about a month. Well, not exactly, but it feels as such. I  spent time in Florida, went turkey hunting (which I shall write about shortly), and went to Arizona. Thus, I have not been baking. As I set out to bake on Baking Sunday for the first time in a long time, I had no idea what I wanted to make.

I knew I didn’t want to make cookies or brownies as those are my go-to baked goods. I wanted to do something a bit different. Not necessarily fancy or complicated, but just not my norm. I was thinking cake. After much deliberation (yes I deliberated over this trivial matter) I decided to make Boston Cream Pie. I have never made one before so figured I should give it a go.

I prepped the filling and it looked superb. I prepped the batter and popped the cake in the oven. It came out looking amazing & smelled even better. I let it cool slightly and went to invert the pan and…it did not come out of the pan the way it was supposed to come out. All bakers have experienced this. Part of the bottom of the cake remained in the pan during the inversion process and it resulted in a split cake.

At first I thought it would be OK. I had to slice it in half anyway for the two layers required for the finished good but it had split in a way that this would not be possible.

I sat there grumpy, tapping my nails on the counter, & I tried to think of what I was going to do. I decided to just make Deconstructed Boston Cream Pie.  I don’t know if that exists or not but that’s what I did. I took my aggression out on the cake and crumbled it into various sized pieces. I made the glaze as planned. I then assembled my new creation by layering crumbs, filling, more crumbs, and then the glaze in muffin cups.

It might not be what I intended to make, but kitchen mishaps are bound to happen. It’s all about adapting and making it work. True in the kitchen & true in life.

Recipe From Betty Crocker: Boston Cream Pie

This post is a bit delayed as I wrote it around Halloween. Just decorate them however you desire or not at all. I enjoyed them the best with no frosting.

As I had made Bloody Beet Cake I knew I needed to make chocolate beet cupcakes. I have this problem. Once I find something I have to go all out and keep trying different variations. This time, it is baking with beets. I threw together these cupcakes and was blown away. I think these might the best cupcakes I have ever made. I always have problems with trying cupcake recipes and they end up being dry or just not that great. These are neither. They are moist (I hate that word except for cake descriptions), fluffy, and super chocolately. I strongly suggest doubling or tripling the recipe.

I also made the same recipe but instead of butter I used 1/3 cup vegetable oil. I added all the dry ingredients to a bowl and then added all the wet ingredients on top. I just beat them until mixed and poured into a prepared muffin tin. The baking time is also the same. I do think the ones with butter were a smidge better, but they were both scrumptious.

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes (makes 1 dozen)

• 6 tbsp butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup beet puree
• 1/2 cup coffee
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• frosting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Beat butter until soft. Beat in sugar until creamy. Add beet puree & coffee and mix until just combined. Add all dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops are spongey and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Feel free to frost with your favorite frosting. I did a few with cream cheese frosting & Halloween decorations as well. In my opinion though, I think they are amazing plain.

I just posted about Gory Cupcakes that I made two years ago which inspired this dessert. I wanted to make some elaborate cake or dessert but was not feeling that ambitious to take on such an endeavor. I decided that I should just stick to something that I knew would end up good. Since edible blood is the easiest Halloween item to make, I decided to make a blood splattered cake. As I had also just received a surplus of beets from a co-worker I knew a beet cake was in order. I had never made a beet cake but figured it would be similar to carrot cake or zucchini cake.

This cake is like a cross between a carrot cake & red velvet cake but without the food coloring in the batter. If I had made this for a party I would have added the red dye to get the extreme visual of red cake to blood splattered frosting. No one will know that there are beets in this cake. It is so light & fluffy and sweet that everyone will gobble it down. Be warned, after storing in the fridge it does become dense. Still delicious, but dense. Enjoy.

Bloody Beet Cake

• 3/4 cup butter, plus more for greasing pans
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup beet puree
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp + 1tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups cake flour
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• cream cheese frosting
  • 1 8oz pkg cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
• blood
  • 2 tbsp corn syrup
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp corn starch
  • red, blue, green food coloring
  • chocolate syrup

Beet Puree: Trim off ends and peel 1-2 beets. Chop into chunks, place in a pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil & boil until tender (about 30-45minutes depending on size of beets). Drain and place in a food processor & chop until pieces are very fine. Remove beets from the processor. Place one cup of this back into the processor and add milk, vanilla, vinegar, & lemon juice. Puree until smooth. Reserve the other beet puree for another use (feel free to make as much puree as you want by chopping more beets).

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 8-9in round cake pans with butter. Line with parchment paper and grease again.

In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until just incorporated.  Add the beet mixture & mix until combined. Add all of the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated scraping the sides as needed*. Pour into prepared cake pans.

*Note that if you want an intense red in the batter, as in a traditional red velvet cake, add a tsp of red food coloring to the batter at this point.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pans and cool completely. Place in the fridge or freezer for 30-60 minutes.

Frosting: In a large bowl beat the cream cheese, milk, & vanilla until light & fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in 1 cup increments and beat until desired texture is achieved.

Blood: Mix the corn syrup, water, and corn starch until desired consistency is achieved by adding more water or corn starch as needed. Add red food coloring until a deep red is achieved. Add 1-2 drops of blue &/or green food coloring (I did 2 drops of each). Add chocolate syrup to make a more blood-like color if needed (not very much is needed – don’t overdo it).

Assembly: Skim off the tops of the cakes if needed to make them flat. Frost the top of one with some frosting. Add the other cake, top side down, on top of this frosted cake. Add frosting to the top and spread in a even layer and coat the sides. Dip a pastry brush or tooth brush into the blood & flick at the cake to create a splattered blood look.

Serve at a party or just enjoy your creation.