• 5 red beets (about 500 grams each)
• ½ c buttermilk
• 175 g butter
• 200 g brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 300g Self raising flour
• 40 g cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Cream Cheese Frosting: 250 g cream cheese, 185 g icing sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200C. Was and trim the tops from the beets. Wrap each one in foil and bake for about an hour or until very tender. When they are cool enough to handle, peels off the skin. Roughly chop and puree the beets with the buttermilk until smooth.

Cream the butter and sugar and add the eggs one at a time, and then mix in the vanilla essence. Sift together the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in the butter mixture and the beet puree stirring until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cup cake papers and bake at 180C for about 20mins or until they spring back when touched. Cool and ice with the cream cheese frosting.