Super(food)Brownies!

I made these brownies with beetroot and blueberries today, reducing the fat and upping the antioxidants without making something unpleasant!

Anyone that thinks beetroot needs to remain in a vinegar-y jar, only to come to the table with corned beef and cold meats, I urge you to try something new - get some raw from a farm shop (or garden/allotment - ours came from Ash's Granny's farm) or some boiled, vacuum packed ones  that you can get in most supermarket chilled veg sections (NOT in vinegar) and give this recipe a go!

There are other ones out there, by the way - if you don't like this one there is a similar one on bbc good food (no blueberries) and I know Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall has done some because he inspired me last year!

Remember, whilst working with beetroot, to avoid "murderer hands" you should wear plastic gloves!

3-4 medium raw beetroot, peeled, topped & tailed, chopped into chunks

100 g margarine/ butter 

200 g plain chocolate

250 g golden caster sugar (or soft dark brown sugar gives a denser brownie)

3 large eggs

100 g plain flour

40 g cocoa powder

100 g Blueberries (optional)

50 g extra chocolate chopped (optional)

*Pre-heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.*

1.     Put the beetroot into a bowl. Add a splash of water, cover with cling film, then microwave on High for 10-15 mins (until tender).

2.     While the beetroot cooks, grease & line a 9 inch square cake tin. Roughly chop the 200 g of chocolate and cut the butter into cubes. Drain off any excess liquid from the beetroot, then whizz them down as smooth as you can with your choice of blender, food processor or hand held whizzer.

3.     Melt the 200 g of chocolate and butter over a water-bath whilst you blitz the beetroot down, then stir them together and leave to cool slightly.

4.     Put the sugar and eggs into a large bowl, then beat using an electric hand whisk until thick, pale and foamy, about 2 mins. Spoon the beetroot mix into the bowl then use a large metal spoon to fold it into the whisked eggs. Try to conserve as much air in the mixture as you can. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder, then gently fold these in to make a smooth batter. If you’re using the optional extras, stir them in now, very gently.

5.     Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25-35 mins or until risen all over, with an even crust. Cool in the tin, then cut into squares – makes 16 brownies in that size tin, but they are nice and deep.

Because my beets were quite big, I ended up with very red, very moist brownies - we like this, but if you like them less easily identified as containing beetroot, you'd be better working with a precise amount of beetroot. The BBC Good Food recipe gives 400g raw flesh as the best amount to work with, but I guess a lot of it is the luck of the draw as some beets will be more inclined to soak up water when cooking initially.

Garden Of Wonders....

Well, this year we have been a bit more successful with our garden, in some ways, and less successful in others.

A couple of pods of Peas

We did alright for Peas, though the second batch that we planted didn't come up so well. Definitely planning to plant more of them next year, and make sure they're close to their canes from the very beginning.

The runner beans have run off again like crazy! We still have some in the freezer from last year (9 plants) and even though we reduced it to 5 plants this year, I still reckon we'll not have to buy any until well into next year if we ever do buy any then!

The king of the onions

The onions have been properly harvested this year and I plaited the majority of them when dry as we ran low on twine. I only did 3 (or 5 of the smaller ones) to a string though, I don't have the skills to do a full plait that you just cut the onions out of. Maybe one day I'll learn to do that.

Lots of carrots, some beans

 

We planted the same amounts of parsnips, but only one seed germinated! We filled in with the transplanted carrots, of which there were a total of over 130.
The tranplanted ones are mainly a bit leggy, so those that we've taken up have been chopped and blanched and frozen but the ones that stayed put in their original germinating spot have done quite well and they haven't needed to be take to bits (except if they've been munched by bugs)!



So all that's left in now are about half of the carrots, the Solitary Parsnip, all of the leeks and the runner beans, which will probably send us another pound or two of beans to freeze before they die off.

Looking forward to cheesy Leeks in the winter!
Harvesting them is difficult though, as they're all up in York and we're mainly down in Bristol.

Hoping to work out a better plan of being in York at the right times next year, but it's hard with my exams.

We do also have some pepper plants on Bristol, the most productive Chilli I've ever seen and some celery plants.
I've got no idea if the celery will be nice or if we should've fed it better or anything.

CAAAAAAKE!!!!

I have baked 4 good cakes this year that I I have photos of, though i can only find 3 at the minute.

Here are the photos I can find:

Daddy's Birthday cake - Chocolate with coffee buttercream decoration and filling

That was late May.

Then this marble was for my fiance's return from one of his tours this summer:

And the last one there was another "welcome home". My own recipe Citrus drizzle cake.

Hoping to make another one of some description soon.

First Ever Post!

And it's a short one.

Once I've got my exams out of the way I'll be using this page to update on my wedding plans, my progress at work (help me with my portfolio for my qualification) and just general stuff.

You may even find photos of my crafty stuff on here when I get around to making anything again.

Hoping to have a full complement of Christmas Cards to show, my wedding invites and maybe (if I ever get the sewing machine I've been promised) some new clothing and soft furnishings!

It's not a blog for rants or anything like that, so sorry - if that's the kind of entertainment you're looking for, you won't find it here!