Au Naturel Red Velvet Cake

I've made red velvet cake twice before these cupcakes. Twice, I downed an entire bottle of red food colouring into the batter. Twice, everyone who ate the cake preferred the frosting over the cake. I realized that I had twice used the wrong method for scooping flour, resulting in the overly dense cake. (This is why I prefer to measure things by mass.)
Well today, there is not going to be a thrice. Because today, I've learnt my lesson and I know my mistakes, both of them.
One: Red food colouring. I never knew that red food colouring was bad for you until recently. Well technically, anything artificial shouldn't be good, but what the heck? I didn't know of any alternatives then. Now, I do.
Two: Measuring of flour. I am very embarrassed to say that I used to scoop the flour into the cup and pack it in. Ok, please don't start berating me. I've only done this twice, both when I made red velvet cake. If you want to know how, you might want to check these websites out. Alternatively, you can convert the cups in your recipe to grams.
So, if I'm not going to use colouring, what am I going to use for the red colour? Beets! And the best part? No one noticed! One thing to note, you have to try keep the mixture as acidic as possible, so avoid using metal bowls, spoons, etc.

 natural red colour!

Au Naturel Red Velvet Cupcakes recipe, adapted from Sophistimom
Ingredients:
300g sugar
225g butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk*
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
320g unbleached all-purpose flour *
2 tbsp natural cocoa powder*
1 1/2 cups beet puree (directions follow)
Cream cheese frosting(recipe follows)

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar together. Meanwhile, in another bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder together.
2. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add in vanilla.
3. Mix in buttermilk. Incorporate the flour mixture with the wet mixture.
4. Fold in beet puree.
5. Spoon the mixture into a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners. Bake for 180C/350F for 16-20 minutes.
6. When the cupcakes have cooled, frost them with cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!

Beet Puree recipe, adapted from Sophistimom
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup worth of beets(I used 2 beets)
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp vinegar

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Place beets in a roasting pan and fill it with 1/2 inch of water. Cover with aluminium foil. Bake for 60-90 minutes or until the beets are soft.
2. When the beets have cooled, peel the beets and cut them into chunks.
3. Measure and pour 1 1/2 cups of beets into the blender. Add lemon juice and vinegar. Pulse until you get a fine puree.

Cream Cheese Frosting, adapted from the Straits Times newspaper
Ingredients:
500g cream cheese, softened
113g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
a pinch of salt

Method:
1. Using a handheld mixer, blend cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. On low speed, add vanilla extract. Sift in icing sugar and salt. Mix until combined.
3. Place the frosting in the fridge until needed.

RECIPE NOTES*:
1. I mixed 1 cup of milk and 1 tbsp of vinegar and left it to stand for about 15 minutes instead of using buttermilk.
2. Use unbleached flour. Bleached flour is has a higher pH, and could affect the colour of the cake.
3. Use natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process, for the same reason as the flour.