St Valentines Day is in my opinion ever so slightly ridiculous. It’s for school kids to send secret messages to their crushes and the chocolate and flower companies to make some more money, but I felt I had to do something to mark the day so my bloody valentine beetroot and raspberry brownies are the thing.
Sweet, chocolatey, earthy and just a little bit of my dark humour go to make for some of the best, gooiest and tastiest brownies on the planet.
ingredients
- 185g butter
- 185g good quality dark chocolate – at least 70% cocoa solids
- 3 large eggs
- 275g golden caster sugar
- 75g plain flour
- 30g ground almonds
- a pinch of salt
- 40g cocoa powder
- 1 raw beetroot – peeled, finely grated. I get my Beetroots from Shaws Fruit and Veg.
- 100g fresh raspberries
for the bloody frosting
- the juice of one beetroot
- 200g fine icing sugar
Grease and line a 20cm square brownie pan, pre-heat the oven to 160C
Firstly (and this is the bloody part) grate the beetroot very finely. Squeeze as much of the ice out as possible and set the juice and the grated vegetable aside.
In a pan gently melt the butter and chocolate – do this over a really low heat and stir regularly – take it off the heat before it’s fully melted and set aside to cool, stirring again as it melts
In a large bowl beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mix for about 6 minutes until it doubles in volume and becomes pale, light and airy then pour in the melted and cooled chocolate and gently fold in until it’s fully combined
Sieve in the flour, ground almonds, salt and cocoa and again, gently fold in. Now gently fold in the grated beetroot and raspberries.
Pour the mixture into your brownie pan and bake on 160C (fan) for 25 mins then remove from the oven and let it cool in the tin.
Meanwhile make the frosting by staring together the icing sugar and a little of the beetroot juice. You want a thickish frosting, the consistency of double cream. Flick it all over the cooled brownies as though there’s been a bloodbath!
Cut into squares or cut out heart shapes and serve.
For more brownie recipes check these out on Dom in the Kitchen.
Eat and of course, enjoy!
