Beetroot + Chocolate = Brownies!

RiverCottage do a wicked Chocolate and Beetroot Brownie recipe having now tried and tested it out for the first time yesterday. I totally love RiverCottage and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and find their recipes consistant.

Image by ihatemornings via Flickr

Beetroot is easy to grow and use, I even like the stained red hands one is left with. My father cooks and eats beetroot fanatically, always boiling it then letting it cool to eat with salad. I prefer beetroot grated raw or cooked in a dish, like beetroot curry or soup.

RiverCottage have placed the recipe under October on the website, however beetroot can be harvest throughout the summer and autumn months.

This recipe makes a lighter version than the full chocolate, its got the punch and hook of a brownie still, and a fuller cake feeling from the beetroot. I had the batch in the oven for the full 25 minutes and wished i’d pulled them out the oven at 20 minutes as they carry on cooking in the dish.

Ingredients

• 250g/10oz good, dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
• 250g/ 10oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing
• 250g/10oz caster sugar
• 3 free-range eggs
• 150g self-raising flour (we used wholemeal self-raising)
• 250g of beetroot, boiled until tender, peeled and grated

Method: How to make chocolate and beetroot brownies

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease a baking tin of approximately 20x30x3cm and line the bottom with baking parchment.
2. Break up the chocolate into pieces, cut the butter into cubes then mix them up a bit in a heatproof bowl. As the oven begins to warm up, put the bowl onto one of the shelves for a few minutes until the chocolate and butter starts to melt. Stir, and put back into the oven for a few more minutes to melt completely.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until combined, then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. Gently fold in the flour then the beetroot – be careful not to overmix or it will make the brownies tough.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth over the top with a spatula. Bake for about 20 minutes. A knife or skewer pushed into the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Don’t be tempted to overcook them! Remove the tin from the oven and leave on wire rack to cool before cutting into squares.

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