These beautiful beet napoleons may look like red velvet desserts, but they’re made with chive cream cheese, red beets and tiny prosciutto roses on top! With only 4 simple ingredients and a tiny cookie cutter, you can make these delicious, charming, bite-size appetizers for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or a lovely bridal or baby shower!
I love this recipe for a romantic, champagne, Netflix date-night, or a rich, red wine Gal-entine’s Day with friends. Imagine pairing them with my seared tomato, roasted garlic and burrata bruschetta and pretty Valentines day deviled eggs!
With a Divine Damiana Valentine cocktail and maybe a white chocolate cheesecake mouse & raspberry compote for dessert, you’d have a very impressive (and romantic) Valentine’s day spread!
How to Make This Recipe – Step by Step
1. Wash 3 large beets and wrap them in tin foil. Roast them at 350 F. (177 C.) for 1 hour.
2. While the beets roast, make the prosciutto roses. Using kitchen scissors, cut a slice of prosciutto into a piece that’s about 5 inches long and 1 inch wide.
3. Fold it in half so you have a nice, sturdy piece.
4. Gently roll it into a pretty rose. Make 5 more and place them in the refrigerator until your napoleons are done.
5. Remove the beets and allow them to refrigerate until cool, about 15 minutes. Then, thinly slice them into 6 pieces each.
6. Use your small cookie cutter to cut perfect rounds through each slice. Wash each round and dry them with a paper towel to prevent the juice from bleeding into the cream cheese layers.
7. Fill your pastry piping bag with ¼ cup chive cream cheese and add 1 beet to your cookie cutter on the cutting board.
8. Cover the beet with about 1 tsp. of cream cheese.
9. Place another beet on top and gently push it down to evenly distribute the cheese between the layers.
10. Gently slide the cookie cutter up so that you can add another layer of cheese and another beet without the first layer of cheese spilling out below.
11. Add another layer of cheese.
12. Then, add 1 more beet, gently pressing down to evenly distribute the layer of cheese below.
13. Gently lift the cookie cutter off of your perfect napoleon.
14. To perfectly adhere your roses to the napoleons, you can add a tiny dot of cream cheese to the top, and simply add your prosciutto roses and a cilantro leaf or two to the top.
Common Questions
Although they’re not a dessert, they’re named after a specific kind of French pastry, that was one called mille-feuilles (meaning “thousand leaves,” in reference to its layers). This pastry was renamed “napoleon,” and the nickname may be in reference to the emperor, but theories also claim it to be a derivative of the word “Naples,” after the multi-layered cakes of the region. It’s actually a mystery exactly how they got their name.
They’ll be delicious for hours if assembled and stored in a container with a lid in the fridge. The longest I’ve stored them was 3 hours, and they were just as tasty as if they were just made – the only issue is that that beet juice will start to bleed into the cheese after about 15-20 minutes and they won’t look quite as pretty. I’d suggest having your beets sliced and cut, your roses made, and ready to assemble about 30 minutes before serving.
A Few Tips
1. Use a cookie cutter that’s no bigger than 1½ inches to keep them bite-size.
Unless you want them to be more of a first course than an appetizer that can be easily lifted with a tooth pick or cocktail pin, keep it real tiny.
2. Make the prosciutto roses first.
If you’re not used to making teeny, tiny prosciutto roses, you’ll want to give yourself some time to get them just right before assembling the Napoleons. Even when you wash the beets, they’ll start to stain the cheese after about 15-20 minutes, so you’ll want to be able to pop those roses right on top, the moment they’re done. Also, make sure to buy prosciutto that is separated by wax paper or plastic. Otherwise, they’ll be too difficult to separate.
3. Wash the beet slices once they’re cut.
Don’t skip this step, they’ll still taste just as delicious when washed. That beet juice really stains, as you can imagine, and it will quickly turn the cheese pink, which isn’t as pretty as when it’s white. Washing them helps to make them a little less staining, but no less tasty.
4. If you don’t want to use your fingers to eat them…
Simply add toothpicks or cocktail pins right in the center, and they’ll be so simple to lift and pop right in your mouth!
Help yourself to these other romantic recipes!
- Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon
- How to Make a Bacon Rose Bouquet
- Romantic Valentine’s Day Deviled Eggs
- The Divine Damiana Valentine Cocktail
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Beet Napoleons with Prosciutto Roses
Equipment
- tin foil – to wrap the beets
- cookie cutter – no bigger than 1½ inches wide
- sharp knife & cutting board – that won’t be easily stained
- pastry piping bag with tip – large enough for chives to come through
- kitchen scissors
- 6 tooth picks or cocktail pins (optional)
Ingredients
- 3 large beets
¼
cupchive cream cheese
- 3 slices
prosciutto
- cilantro leaves – just a few for garnish
Instructions
- Wash 3 large beets and wrap them in tin foil. Roast them at 350 F. (177 C.) for 1 hour.
- While the beets roast, make the prosciutto roses. Using kitchen scissors, cut a slice of prosciutto into a piece that’s about 5 inches long and 1 inch wide. Fold it in half so you have a nice, sturdy piece. Gently roll it into a pretty rose. Make 5 more and place them in the refrigerator until your napoleons are done.
- Remove the beets and allow them to refrigerate until cool, about 15 minutes. Then, thinly slice them into 6 pieces each.
- Use your small cookie cutter to cut perfect rounds through each slice. Wash each round and dry them with a paper towel to prevent the juice from bleeding into the cream cheese layers.
- Fill your pastry piping bag with ¼ cup chive cream cheese. Add 1 beet to your cookie cutter on the cutting board, and cover the beet with about 1 tsp. of cream cheese. Place another beet on top and gently push it down to evenly distribute the cheese between the layers. Gently slide the cookie cutter up so that you can add another layer of cheese and another beet without the first layer of cheese spilling out below. Add another layer of cheese, then, add 1 more beet, gently pressing down to evenly distribute the layer of cheese below.
- Gently lift the cookie cutter off of your perfect napoleon.
- To perfectly adhere your roses to the napoleons, you can add a tiny dot of cream cheese to the top, and simply add your prosciutto roses and a cilantro leaf or two to the top.
Zoe
Can you make the beets a day in advance and put together the next day?
Genevieve Morrison
You certainly can! If you decide to make them and slice them the day before, just be sure to store them in a container with a lid.
Zoe
Thank you and I will definitely make this!
Helen Liu
Hi Genevieve,
My guests aren’t fans of beets. Could you please recommend a substitute. This recipe sounds amazing!
Thank you!
Helen
Genevieve Morrison
I have a very similar recipe made with melon. But if you’re not looking for a sweet recipe, you could always use cucumber or zucchini. Baked sweet potato and baked purple potato would probably be a lovely mix of colors as well. Here is a similar recipe using melon: https://www.shekeepsalovelyhome.com/prosciutto-melon-appetizers/