Makes 16 Brownies
Fresh beetroots are in season right now and they don’t have to be confined to pickling or salads; beetroot goes brilliantly with chocolate. Try them in these brownies, perhaps for Valentine’s day after all it’s not much difference to carrot cake!

Ingredients
175g raw beetroot, peeled and very finely grated (prepared weight)
200g dark chocolate, broken into squares
200g unsalted butter
1 pinch of salt
3 eggs
175g light brown sugar
125g plain flour
Method
- Grease and line a 20cm x 20cm tin with greaseproof paper
- Place your grated beetroot between a couple of sheets of kitchen paper press down to remove the excess moisture; set aside
- Put the chocolate and butter into a bowl and sit it above a pan of simmering water. Once melted set aside to cool a bit
- Preheat your oven to 170°C
- In a large bowl beat the eggs and sugar really well until thick, paler and all the sugar is dissolved – about 5 minutes with electric beaters
- Mix the cooled chocolate into the egg and then mix in the beetroot
- Sift in the flour and fold together very gently with a big metal spoon
- Transfer the mixture into the lined tin
- Cook for 25 minutes then leave to cool completely and cut into 16