May 15-16, 2008: Chocolate beetroot brownies

Orange, coffee, mint, fruit and nuts: these are the flavours I'm accustomed to pairing with chocolate. But what about beetroot? It seemed like a match made in purgatory when I first heard it. Yet I was impressed by the agreeable earthy flavour once I sunk my teeth into that dark, moist chocolate and beetroot cake about 12 years ago. I was in high school and it had been baked by my friend's older sister - the cake probably contributed some way to my image of her as cool, alternative, and galaxies away from my closeted life.

Not being much of a cook at the time, I wasn't curious to try my own hand at it. It's only since I've been blogging that I've started collecting recipes that pair chocolate with beetroot. And here's my first trial of the odd couple at home, a recipe for brownies that recently appeared in Karen Martini's section of the Age's Sunday Life magazine. I baked them for the occasion of another guest speaker at work, and I was a little anxious as to how they'd be received. Consequently I went a little overboard with the chocolate "drizzle" over the top (it was more of a downpour).

I thought these brownies were fantastic. Chocoholic as I am, I was actually quite happy for my favourite food to take a step back from centre stage and share the limelight with almond meal, nutmeg and beetroot. They combine to form an organic, complex flavour and moist, slightly chewy texture. I'd even skip the chocolate drizzle altogether next time, though it probably did ease the way for a couple of skeptics in the group. My new-old mixmaster made the beating stages effortless, though I didn't spend quite long enough incorporating the eggs (make sure you do!). Deciding to make one and a half times the original quantity to share around (these are the measurements given below), I finally found something to fill up a convincing half of the mixer's gigantic bowl. The only nuisance was grating the beetroot, but that certainly won't stop me from making these again.


Chocolate beetroot brownies

150g butter, softened
150g brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
165g plain flour
6 eggs
135g dark chocolate, melted
150g ground almonds
170g raw beetroot, finely grated
75g extra chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a baking dish with paper and grease it well.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the vanilla, nutmeg and flour. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined (I failed to do this!).

Once the melted chocolate is at room temperature, add it to the batter. Fold in the ground almonds and beetroot.

Spread the brownie mixture in the baking dish and bake it for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

Once the brownie has cooled, drizzle over the melted chocolate before slicing and serving.