The first time I came across a red velvet cake recipe, I remember being so disappointed that the ‘red’ came from food colouring. My first thought was why not use something natural like beets?
Red Velvet Brownies
Ingredients
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 150 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) chopped
- 150 g cooked beets
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract optional
- 150 g brown sugar
- 150 g almond meal or hazelnut meal
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and line a loaf pan with baking paper.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and add chocolate. Stand.
- Meanwhile, whizz beets in a food processor until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, sugar and nut meal and whizz again until mixed.
- Add melted butter and chocolate and again whizz until combined.
- Spread mixture over the base of your pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until firm on the top but still squidgy in the middle.
- Cool in the tin and serve sliced with vanilla ice cream or double cream.
Varations
no food processor – just chop the beets finely by hand and mix everything with a spoon.
even redder velvet – replace dark chocolate with white chocolate.
home cooked beets – just trim and scrub beets then bake whole (180C / 350F) until soft when pierced with a knife, about an hour but may be longer for large beets. Cool and peel before using.
budget / nut-free – replace nut meal with plain (all purpose) flour. Be super careful not to over bake as flour based brownies can be very dry.
dairy-free – replace butter with coconut oil.
egg-free – I haven’t tried this but replacing the egg with 1 large mashed ripe banana should work fine here.
vegan – combine the dairy and egg free options.
short on time / paleo (grain, legume & dairy-free) – serve your fave chocolate instead.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
butter – keeps in the fridge for months.
dark chocolate /vanilla extract/brown sugar/almond or hazelnut meal – keep them all in the pantry.
beetroot (beets) – canned beets will keep in the pantry indefinitely. Commercially vac packed cooked beets usually keep in the fridge for months. Uncooked beets will keep in the fridge in a plastic bag for weeks. Can be frozen if needed.
eggs – will keep in th fridge for a month or so. Or use for another meal.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Love it!
YES!
The brownies look great Jules!
I am not a fan of beets. Would the effect be the same to substitute with pitted cherries? And if so the same amount in weight?
Thanks
Oooh love the sound of the cherries Aggie!
Yes use the same weight but make sure they are well drained (if frozen) so you’re not adding too much extra moisture.
I’ve had red velvet cake only once, and was not impressed, but these brownies actually sound quite good. I would use an erythritol-based brown sugar substitute to lower the carb level. I feel a little bit of concern about these being dominated by beet flavor, but I’m guessing that the sugar and chocolate fix that issue.
The beets are more subtle in flavour Susan – and they give such a lovely moist texture 🙂
I wonder how these would work with dates to sweeten instead of sugar?
I wish you had a “subscribe to comments” check box on these posts, I’d love to know when you reply. 🙂 (There is a subscribe to comments plugin in case you’re inspired. 🙂 )
Hi Jenna!
I think dates would work really well… I’d probably soak them in boiling water first, drain and puree with the beets.
And thanks for the ‘subscribe to comments’ tip…. will check out the plugin!
Jx
Oh, good idea to soak and purée! I will try that.
And I see you got the comments plugin — an even better one! Very cool. 🙂
xo
I tried making my carrot cake on the weekend and was too lazy to soak the dates… it turned out really dry and aweful.
I hope you have better luck with the brownies!
And good to know the comments plugin is working Jenna.
Thanks for the inspiration to get it sorted!
Jx
Okay, one more question — how many dates do you think? About the same quantity as sugar or ??
I’d start with the same weight … And then soak in boiling water before pureeing.
You might need to use a little more because dates aren’t all sugar but see how you go.
Jx