The day before you make these cupcakes, I highly recommend doing the following:

1. Cook white beans for the frosting (if you’re not using canned beans). Cook until very tender.
2. Boil the beets. Do not bake or roast the beets as this could throw off the moisture ratios in the recipe. I recommend boiling 6 medium sized beets to ensure you will have enough. Whatever doesn’t need pureed, you can eat! Chill beets, then puree them. You will need 1 cup pureed beets for the recipe.
3. Brew and chill the chai. Pour 1 cup boiling water over 2 Tazo chai tea bags and 1 star anise. Brew for 10 to 12 minutes. Strain. Store in the refirgerator until use. You will only need 1/4 cup of this for the frosting. Skip the star anise if you want, it’s not a deal breaker.

A note about measuring the flours. For the cocoa powder, brown rice flour, chickpea flour, and ground flax seeds, I sift them prior to measuring. After I sift them, I use a spoon to put the sifted flour in the measuring cup. I sweep over the top of the measuring cup with a knife to level it off. You must sift the flours, including the cocoa powder, prior to measuring.  If you don’t, your cupcakes may turn out differently than mine. I use a fine mesh stainless steel strainer to sift. I also grind my own brown rice flour with short grain brown rice. I grind my own flax seeds as well.

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Prepare 12 cupcake molds with paper liners.
3. Blend cocoa powder, brown rice flour, chickpea flour, ground flax seeds, coconut palm sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix ingredients evenly and set aside.
4. In a blender or Vitamix, blend 1 cup pureed beets, extra virgin olive oil, filtered water, vanilla, and balsamic vinegar.
5. Slowly pour liquid blended mixture into the dry ingredients bowl. Mix well.
6. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes at 350° F. They are done when a toothpick comes out mostly clean and center of cupcakes are able to slightly bounce back when touched.
7. Cool completely before frosting. Frosting spreads best on cupcakes that have been refrigerated.

For the Frosting:

1. Puree the chilled white beans in a food processor with the 1/4 cup cold chai, being mindful that the white beans are fully pureed.
2. Add the rest of the frosting ingredients directly to the food processor. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to blend the frosting in two batches.
3. Blend on low until frosting becomes fluffy — about 3 to 5 minutes. The temperature of your coconut oil will vary blending times and fluffiness. If the frosting gets too warm (because coconut oil is temperature sensitive), remove food processor work bowl and place in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to firm it up.
4. Spread frosting on cold cupcakes. There will most likely be extra frosting if you only use a thin layer on your cupcakes. However, if you’d like to pipe it on, you may have enough to do that as well. I have not tried piping it yet. The frosting freezes very well if you want to save extras.