Beetroot Brownies

It's been too long, I have not written for weeks... my cafe hours have extended and the workload seemed to double overnight and something had to give..... unfortunately it was the thing I love to do most! Blog I missed you, I won't leave you alone again. I just needed the inspiration of my big sister turning up and nagging me to get back to it.

The good thing is that I have huge, long list of recipes all waiting to be photographed and written up so back to business. This recipe is based on a Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall article from a newspaper clipping years ago and is now one of my absolute favourites. Rich. luscious, more chocolaty than you can imagine, these brownies don't taste of beetroot any more than carrot cake tastes of carrots but the sweetness of the beet adds an extra depth of flavour and somehow exaggerates the flavour of the chocolate. 

Beetroot Brownies
250g dark chocolate
250g butter
250g caster sugar
3 large eggs
150g self-raising flour
250g beetroot, boiled until tender or a  250g pack of vac-packed beetroot

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Grease a brownie tin (20 x 30) and line with greaseproof paper.
Grate the beetroot on the finest setting of a grater and set aside.  
Break the chocolate up and chop the butter into small cubes. Place in a double-boiler or in a microwave for 30-45 secs until just melted.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until light and thick, then add the chocolate and butter mixture and beat together until smooth.
Fold in the flour then stir in the grated beetroot.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and tap gently on the counter top to eliminate any bubbles and give a smooth finish.
Bake for approx 20 minutes until a skewer pushed into the middle should comes out sticky but clean.
Remove the tin from the oven and leave on wire rack to cool.
slice into bars and dust with icing sugar to serve.