Former Great British Bake Off contestant – and our beloved baking expert – Val Stones has never been afraid to put her own unique spin on timeless classics. Her beetroot brownies make the traditional recipe fresh and exciting.
- Makes 12
- Preparation - 20 minutes
- Cooking - 35-40 minutes
Ingredients
- 350g cooked beetroot (reserve 1 tablespoon of the coarse puree for the icing).
- You can use fresh beetroot or ready-cooked which saves you getting red hands.
- 300g dark chocolate (70% cocoa) roughly chopped or chocolate chips
- 75g unsalted butter
- 3 eggs
- 200g granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4g fine sea salt
- 50g plain flour
- 45g cocoa powder
For the icing
- 100g icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon of the beetroot puree
Method
- Set the oven to 160°C fan, 180-190°C, 350-375°F, gas 4-5.
- Grease and line a 23cm x 20cm brownie pan or a similar-size square pan.
- Drain the beetroot and blitz in the food processor, or medium grate. It’s less messy if you use a processor; keep scraping down the sides to make sure no big lumps remain.
- Melt 200g of the chocolate and butter in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the water), stirring until all is combined and the chocolate is melted.
- Alternatively, you can put the butter and chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and microwave on low for 4 bursts of 1 minute stirring in between.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt until all are combined and have a creamy consistency.
- Beat the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture; stir in the beetroot.
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture and finally add the remaining chocolate chunks or chips.
- Pour into the brownie pan and level off with a spatula.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until a crust has formed but the middle is still slightly wobbly.
- Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely in the tin.
- The brownie can be lifted out and kept in the baking parchment. To freeze, use an airtight container (it's fine for up to two months). Get it out of the freezer the day before you need it, to defrost fully before you decorate it with icing.
To make the icing
- Place the icing sugar and reserved beetroot juice in a bowl and beat.
- If the mixture is a little thick, loosen it with a few more drops of beetroot juice. Leave to set.
Val’s Top Tip – These can be made gluten-free by swapping out the flour for gluten-free plain flour!
Looking for more twists on sweet treats? Val has plenty of tips to make your traditional bakes unique – and even puts her own spin on classic Christmas bakes.
