Pink is the new red! Naturally tinted, these soft chocolate cake cookies sandwich a whipped cream cheese frosting, but the magic is in the pink colour from, of all things, beets!
ingredients
directions
The cookies should be stored refrigerated, for up to 2 days, but are tastiest when pulled from the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Peel the beet, leaving the stem unpeeled and intact (so you can handle it without getting your fingers pink). Grate the beet into a deep bowl using the coarse side of a box grater and measure 1 cup (250 mL) loosely packed. Place this in a mini chopper or food processor with ¼ cup (50 g) of the sugar, the lemon juice and the milk. Pulse until finely blended and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar by hand until smooth and well-combined (it will not be fluffy) and then bat in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add half of this to the butter mixture and combine, switching to a whisk if easier. Add the beet mixture and whisk in, followed by the remaining flour, stirring until blended and smooth.
Use a small mechanical ice cream scoop to scoop the batter (about 2 tsp by volume) onto the baking trays, leaving 2-inches (5 cm) between each. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies can lift easily from the parchment paper. Cool the cookies on the tray on a cooling rack.
To assemble, fill a large piping bag fitted with a large plain tip (or no tip) with Philadelphia Cream Cheese Whipped Frosting. Pipe the frosting onto the bottom of one cooled cookie and sandwich it together with a second and place onto a plate or tray. Fill all of the cookies and then loosely cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve.