Beetroot Brownie
Chef Conor Spacey
“Growing up in Ireland we are lucky to have a climate where we can grow great root vegetables. As a kid though eating them was always a chore. “Eat your vegetables” my mother would always say. I would always find ways to hide them and pretend I had eaten them. One of the hardest vegetables for me to eat as a child was beetroots (although they are one of my favourites now). Their distinctive earthy flavour never agreed with my palette. “They’re so good for you and will make you grow up big and strong”– yes I was told that all the time but still struggled to eat them. So now as a chef I found a way to get other people to eat them that mightn’t necessarily like them on their own. Yes, as strange as it might sound, adding chocolate and yummy butter means that we can bake them into a brownie and now eat them as a treat...This has worked so well that we sell them throughout our food space cafes and I always smile when I see a parent buying them for their kids.... Good memories”
– Conor Spacey –
Ingredients
250g whole raw beetroot (2-3 medium beets)
50g butter, plus extra for the tin
100g of good quality chocolate (70% coco)
½ tsp vanilla extract
125g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
50g plain flour
15g cocoa powder
Method
- Boil the beetroots with skin on until tender, then strain from the pot and remove the skins, chop into small pieces. You might want to wear gloves for this as it can be quite messy.
- Heat oven to 180ºC. Line & butter a small roasting tin. Roughly chop the chocolate and cut the butter and add into a blender with the warm beetroot. Blend until smooth, the warm beetroot will melt the chocolate and butter. Blend until it is a smooth paste and add the vanilla.
- Put the sugar and eggs into a large bowl, beat until nice and creamy. Add the beetroot and chocolate mix into a separate bowl and then carefully fold in the egg and sugar mix, try not to mix to heavily so you don’t knock out the air. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and gently fold these in to make a smooth batter.
- Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25 mins or until risen all over, you still want it to have a slight wobble in the centre. Cool completely in the tin, then cut into squares.
Create the perfect main to go with your delicious side
