April 18, 2016

Chocolate & beetroot brownies

I know, I know, vegetables and chocolate. My reflex reaction is ‘blurgh’ too. But bear with me, these brownies are good, contain lots of dark chocolate and are a handy way to use up beetroot if you find yourself needing to do so.

Not that I often have spare beetroot about the place. I love the stuff, in line with my enthusiasm for pretty much all vegetables. The humble beetroot is a member of the Amaranthaceae family and related, would you believe, to chard. Our modern-day beets descend from the sea beet of the Mediterranean. Our little beet has an ancient and distinguished history. Remains of beets have been discovered in illustrious and ancient places, including the third dynasty pyramid Saqqara and the Neolithic site Aartswoud in the Netherlands.

So naturally we people of the 21st century have found that mashing up beetroot and baking it with chocolate is a delicious, modern usage. The best tip I can give you about this recipe, as warned in the excellent original from BBC, is to wear gloves and ideally an apron when peeling the beets. Beetroot has a brilliant red juice, which is a stunning, attractive colour, but will make it look as though you killed someone and it takes some time to scrub off.

You will need:

3-4 medium-sized beetroot
100g unsalted butter and a little extra for the tin; I have done a dairy-free version too, and used 100g dairy-free olive oil spread
200g dark chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
100g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
Icing sugar for sprinkling over

Set the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Butter then line a 20 x 30cm tin.

Cover up with rubber gloves and an apron then peel the beetroot and cut it into chunks. I find it helps to do this bit in the sink, so that you are not left with a pink kitchen.

Place the beetroot in a large microwave-proof bowl and cover with water. Cover the top of the bowl with cling film, pierce the cling film with a few holes and microwave on high for 12 minutes.

Drain the beetroot then place back in the bowl with the butter, chocolate and vanilla extract. Use a hand-held, bladed blender to mulch into as liquid-y a mix as you can manage. You can also do this bit in an electric mixer, although I find my hand-held one works fine as the beetroot is soft and its warmth melts the chocolate.

Crack the eggs into another large bowl and add the caster sugar. Beat until foamy and pale, about two minutes with an electric beater. Gently fold in the beetroot mix, then sift in the flour and cocoa. Mix in the flour and cocoa gently with a metal spoon. It will be quite pink!