Chocolate & Beetroot - really?

Over a decade ago in a lovely little cafe in Mildura, a town in the north west of Victoria, I had the delectable experience of Chocolate & Beetroot Cake - admittedly more than once!
Prior to eating it I remember thinking (and probably saying) this was one of the most bizarre pairings of food combinations EVER and I was expecting it to taste terrible.

Much to my surprise it was pretty incredible and I remember saying that it was one of the best chocolate cakes I had ever eaten. It was so moist and the sweetness was evenly balanced. Not as dense as a mud cake and not fluffy like a sponge cake. But close to cake perfection. Now I must add here that I am not a huge cake person. In fact my preferred type of cake is a dolly varden ice cream cake. I'm not even sure if that counts. I am definitely more of a savoury person. However, that said...

As hard as I tried at the time to get the recipe I had no luck. For the many years that have followed I have searched high and low for it - trying many versions along the way but to no avail - not even close.

So to my delight a couple of months ago I discovered a chocolate and beetroot brownie recipe in a magazine. I immediately raced out to the supermarket and purchased all of the ingredients and commenced baking. To make things even better it was a very quick and easy recipe to follow and in one hour I was looking at a beautiful chocolate and beetroot brownie. Excitement!

Whilst I realise that a cake and a brownie have their differences from one another - it was the flavour and the texture that I remember clearly from my past chocolate and beetroot cake experience all those years ago. When eating the brownie I had a case of deja vu - a delicious, moist and a flavour that is rich but makes you think there is a 'naughty' ingredient in there. Like when there is rum in a rum ball!

I am sure with a few minor variations this recipe would be great as a cake. It wasn't as dense as a brownie normally is. It had an airy texture which was quite cake like. It wasn't heavy or a commitment to eat like a brownie can be. It was a well-balanced chocolate hit.

Chocolate & Beetroot Brownie – WHO Magazine

What you need (makes 16) -

200 grams dark chocolate, 45-50% cocoa

125 grams butter
1 large beetroot, grated 1 ¼ cups
4 eggs
1 ½ cups caster sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
½ cup almond meal

What you do -

1.      Pre heat oven to 150oC (170oC conventional oven).  Line a 22cm x 22 cm brownie tin with baking paper.

2.      Cut chocolate into small even pieces.  Place in a medium sized bowl with butter.  Place over a pot of hot water (making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water) and stir regularly until chocolate is melted.  Once melted add grated beetroot and stir to combine.

3.      Meanwhile, using an electric beater, whisk eggs and sugar on high speed for three minutes.  Fold through flour, almond meal and melted chocolate with beetroot.

4.      Pour into prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes.

5.      Allow to cool before removing from tin.  Once cooled, slice into 16 squares.  Will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

 Tip – for a denser, richer brownie use 70% cocoa chocolate and reduce cooking time by 5-8 minutes.

FYI - I used tinned beetroot over fresh when I tried this recipe.

Enjoy friends!