Friday 12 August 2011

Beetroot Brownies

I decided to take a break from cupcakes today and have ventured into the unknown world of brownies....I had some spare beetroots that I needed to use up so thought that a chocolate beetroot brownie would be a perfect solution to use up left over ingredients. I cannot get over how simple brownies are to make. If I had known this before I definitely would have tried to make them sooner. Here's how they turned out.....so moist and chocolatey.......


If you want to make these here's what you will need:

Ingredients
  • 4 medium beetroots
  • 100g unsalted butter 
  • 200g dark chocolate (I used 70% cocoa dark chocolate)
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 250g golden caster sugar
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 110g plain flour
  • 25g cocoa powder

Method
Peel the beetroot and roughly chop it into pieces. Place it into a large bowl and add a few tablespoons of water before covering it with cling film and microwaving it on high for 15 minutes or until tender. Note that the beetroot is likely to stain your fingers and cutting boards etc at this stage. Wear gloves to avoid pink fingers! 

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan). While the beetroot cooks, grease then line the base of a 20 x 30cm  baking tin or small roasting pan. Once the beetroot is cooked, tip it into a sieve to drain off any excess liquid, then put it into a food processor with the chocolate, butter and vanilla essence. Whizz until the mix is as smooth as you can get it. The chocolate and butter will melt as you do this. It's ok if your beetroot isn't pureed at ths stage. I personally like a few pieces of beetroot in the mix to give it a more rustic texture.

Put the caster sugar and eggs into a large bowl, then beat using an electric whisk until thick and foamy (normally about 2 mins on a high speed). Spoon the beetroot mix into the bowl then fold it into the whisked eggs with a spoon. Lastly sift in the flour and cocoa powder, then gently fold these in to make a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 25 mins or until risen all over. The top of the brownie will have a nice crust and the centre will be moist and gooey. Cool the brownie in the tin, then cut into squares and serve with creme fraiche. Delicious! 

Happy baking xx

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