No 15 - Chocolate Beetroot Brownie
Now this is a brownie worthy of the name. I love beetroot; it’s one of my favourite vegetables. It makes great soup (and not just borscht – perhaps when I’ve finished this baking challenge I’ll just put some of my favourite recipes on here, like beetroot and coconut soup). I preserve it sliced in a vinegar brine and eat loads in cheese sandwiches (my favourite). And it’s easy to grow if your garden has clay soil.
I spent a year in Denmark a few years ago working in a restaurant kitchen. Beetroot (rødbeder) is a staple in their food world and I learned preparations and uses for beetroot I never imagined before.
Unfortunately for beetroot, there is nothing subtle or secretive about it; cook it and bright pink splotches appear in every part of the kitchen. Nothing provides so much evidence of what you’ve splashed and what you have touched as beetroot does. (Mind you I don’t mind getting my hands in it to skin the cooked beetroot so I might be a bit messier than the averagely stain conscious person).
Before this week's baking, some beetroot had been languishing in my fridge for a few weeks while I psyched myself up to this recipe. It turned out to be superbly easy. I didn’t use the food processor – I flung the cooked skinned beetroot in a blender with all the eggs together and whipped up a delightful pink egg nog.
The rest went by the recipe except that I used plain white flour instead of rice flour (of which I had none).
Recipe from this website : Riverford
https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/chocolate-beetroot-brownies
No one spotted the beetroot without being told. It’s a beautifully moist, smooth brownie. There’s a hint of beetroot taste to those in the know (well to me anyway), but I had to tell. Well you know what beetroot does if you eat it. Even cooked in a cake the pink dye passes through your kidneys. So Louise and I figured that knowing they’d consumed beetroot might provide the answer to a puzzle for the cake-testers at work.
NB 2024 - with beetroot now enjoying resurgent popularity due to its ability (when consumed) to lower blood pressure, you should have no excuse for not eating lots of this brownie (unless you already have abnormally low blood pressure I guess).
Sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteOh, now that sounds like my kind of naughty treat. (I peel my cooked beetroot using two forks as I am a wimp when it comes to getting down and dirty or messy)
ReplyDeleteI clicked on that link and have spent ages down that particular rabbit hole, copying and saving tons of recipes!
I have the same problem (or maybe fun) with plums. ‘They’ or rather liquid plum juice finds its way up walls, on flat surfaces and even clothing.
ReplyDeleteI’ll leave the cooking of beetroot to you - mine comes out of tins during the summer. Hamburgers in a bun need a slice to top them off.
I love beets, daddy grew them in our garden, and my favorite way to eat them is pickled. I buy mine and the good news is, beets are on my OK list for IBS.. I have never heard of using them in recipes, but then I don't cook so how would I? I think I would like this brownie. you are right about the stains, I find small red stains on every surface just from keeping them in a container in fridge and getting out a few slices for my lunch..
ReplyDeleteSounds good. I have sampled borscht in Poland. I think beetroots originate in Russia next to the seaside. Old gardening books say to sprinkle salt along your beetroot rows.
ReplyDeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteYou had me at cheese and beetroot sangers that I don't need the sweet recipe! (Though, in the interest of curiosity, I will take a peek...) 🙃 YAM xx
That sounds delicious. The cafe and store in Torridon does a magnificent chocolate beetroot cake but it's not something I've attempted to bake at home. Yet!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Gail.
I make zucchini brownies. They’re very moist and yummy. My kids loved them. A funny story. I made beetroot dip one time to take to a bbq gathering. It was so purple as to look fake. I hear some of the kids talking about It. One asked is it real another child said. Angela made it so you know it’s not fake. I giggled. They trusted that I didn’t feed them any artificial colours or preservatives. I was know. For my clean organic eating. Even by the children. That’s my claim to fame
ReplyDeletewow I never thought of adding beetroot to baking.
ReplyDelete