Eating Seasonally || Beetroot brownies.

17.03

Beetroot-Brownie-stack

Happy Monday, everyone! Didn’t this weekend fly? Last night I was laying in bed thinking ‘it can’t be nearly next week already. It can’t be!’. But it is! And we’re starting this week off in the very best way. With chocolate. Remember how I told you I was struggling to decide whether to cook the beetroots I’d bought for this month’s ‘Eating Seasonally’ recipes in a sweet or a savoury dish? Well, I opted for sweet. I couldn’t help myself! I did really try and talk myself round to roasting them slowly with a dark balsamic glaze…but then I found a recipe for beetroot brownies when searching for dinner inspiration in Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s ‘River Cottage Everyday’, and the rest is history. I have a couple of beets left in the fridge though which *are* destined to be roasted. I promise.

These brownies tick all the boxes we require a brownie to tick. They’re rich, and dense, and intensely flavoured. I’ll be honest with you though, when I tried a piece just after they’d finished cooking and cooling, I wasn’t sure I liked them. They tasted good, but the beetroot (both its taste and texture) was a little too prominent for my liking. Like a fine wine though (and good cheese, which I way prefer to good wine) they’ve just kept getting better with age. I mean, it’s not like they’re horrible on day one or anything. You know, they’re made of chocolate mixed with fat and sugar, so what’s not to like? But after 24 hours in an airtight tin, they’re a whole different level of amazing. The beetroot kind of melts away, leaving behind the most amazing fudgy moistness and a depth of flavour I’ve never managed to achieve with any other brownie recipe. The first day Jason ate one his (predictable) response was ‘you’ve totally ruined good chocolate by adding vegetables to it, B’, but he’s since been devouring at least one or two per day without complaint! And this, from the man who is so staunchly anti chocolate and fruit/veg being mixed together he won’t even eat the strawberry creams from a box of Quality Street, is praise indeed!

Beetroot-tops Old-Cotswold-Legbar-Eggs Beetroot-brownie-ingredients Dark-chocolate-slabs Grated-beetroot

Recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s ‘River Cottage Everyday’, with method clarified just a little. Makes about 12.
Ingredients:
250g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids
250g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
3 large eggs
150g self raising flour
Pinch salt

- Heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius, and grease & line a square baking tin with parchment paper.

- Place two large beetroots in a pan of water, and boil rapidly until tender. (I stupidly forgot to time how long it took for mine to cook, but am certain it was at least 25 minutes. Just poke them with a knife at regular intervals, until the beets are as tender as a boiled new potato) When cooked, drain, and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, just slip off the skins and grate using the small-hole side of a box grater. (n.b. I used the larger side of a box grater for this batch- the side you’d use to grate cheese- and found the strands of beetroot to be a little too chunky)

- Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, and place into it the butter (roughly chopped for easy melting) and chocolate (broken up into smallish pieces). Melt them gently, stirring a little to combine.

- Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a separate (quite large) bowl, then stir in the melted butter and chocolate mixture. Sift in the flour, fold carefully into the batter (along with the pinch of salt) and then fold in the grated beetroot. Stop mixing the very moment the flour and beetroot have been combined into the batter. Better to have the odd streak of flour, then tough, overworked brownies!

- Pour into the prepared baking tray, and bake for 30-40 minutes. Check after half an hour by poking a strand of spaghetti (always on-hand, and you can just throw it away afterwards!) into the centre. It should come out with some crumbs stuck to it, but not coated in liquid batter.

- Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cut into slices when completely cooled. If you can, make them a day before serving so the flavour can intensify overnight.

Additions: Grated zest of one orange || handful chopped walnuts || a few teaspoons chilli powder for earthy, spiced chocolate brownies.

Broken-chocolate Beetroot-Brownie-batter Cider-with-Rosie-Beetroot-brownies Cider-with-Rosie-beetroot-brownie-recipe

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
14 Comments
Posted in CHOCOLATE., EATING SEASONALLY, FROM MY HOME TO YOURS
  • http://www.octobereleven.com Ceri

    Ahh, I love beetroot brownies, they’re about the only thing I can bake! Although I do cheat and just buy the beetroot pre-cooked! Maybe try putting a wee bit less of it in if you found the taste a bit overpowering? I have to say I never really noticed the beetroot taste, and I use Hugh’s recipe too, but maybe that’s just me! Did you know you can also make brownies with courgettes in?! I haven’t tried them yet, but it’s definitely intriguing! :) x

  • http://www.penchanting.blogspot.com Amber-Rose

    These look lovely! I made a beetroot chocolate cake once just after we’d moved into our new place and so I didn’t have a food processor or a grater, so i just chopped them! (The recipe called for pureed beets.)

    The cake did NOT go down well. I’m intending to redo it with pureed beets and see if anyone notices.

  • http://whimsicalmrsw.blogspot.co.uk Kim Wilkes

    Yum! These look really good.I like that they don’t have any ingredients you can’t pronounce! Does it count as one of my five a day too? Haha.xx

  • http://lolacolakate.blogspot.co.uk/ Laura

    I am really not a fan of beetroot but your beautiful photos have me intrigued. I can’t imagine what it would taste like but they certainly look yummy xx

  • http://greywalls94.blogspot.co.uk Petrina Whiley

    These looks so interesting I need to try baking these.

    P.xx
    GreyWalls

  • http://jenniferbakes.blogspot.ie Jennifer | Jennifer Bakes

    Mmm. Look delish.

  • http://dinoprincesschar.blogspot.co.uk char

    Well they look amazing.

  • http://www.frillsnspills.com Maria

    Man ALIVE, these look delicious!

    Maria xxx

  • http://www.littlepaperswans.com/ Cathryn

    These look amazing Rosie! My mum made me a red velvet birthday cake that had beetroot in. It was so delicious :)

  • http://www.aprileveryday.com April

    I’ve actually seen recipes for these a few times, but have never been brave enough to actually give it a try. They look absolutely lovely though, so I think I may just have to bite the bullet next time I get some fresh beetroot in and test it out for myself!
    Have a lovely week!

  • http://www.joyfelicityjane.com Tania

    I hate beetroot but this sounds awfully GOOD!!!! xxxx

  • http://www.foodielaura.com Foodie Laura

    I haven’t made a chocolate beetroot combo but always hear that it’s good. I think traditionally red velvet is made with beetroot too.

  • http://aimeecorneliusx.blogspot.co.uk/ AimeeCorneliusx

    Beetroot brownies…. They look absolutely delicious but i’m not sure i’m brave enough to give this one a god haha :)
    xoxo
    A.Corn

  • http://thesimplewishlist.blogspot.com Mari

    Ooooooh these look beautiful!! I really fancy them.

    http://thesimplewishlist.blogspot.com

Read from the beginning >