Rich & gooey dark chocolate & raspberry brownies

These brownies taste of pure naughtiness and I love ‘em! Rich fudgy and so deeply darkly chocolaty.  These gooey bites will coat your mouth in a slick chocolate sheen and give you a grin cheekier than that cat that Alice ran into. As naughty as they taste though, they aren’t half as bad for you as their evil twins. I removed half of the butter and sugar, which before you start raising your  eyebrows over I should let you know, doesn’t make a fiddle of difference to the outcome.

I’ve used beets to replace some of the sugar- they are naturally sweet on their own- and that has to be better for you than refined sugars. You just cook them in the microwave to soften (or you could steam on the stove) blitz them to purple-red smitherines, mix them up with fine shards of chocolate until the chocolate melts and the beets are coated and recognizable only as chocolate goop. Which, is frankly the way I most enjoy my beets. Don’t worry, a teaspoon taster for the chef won’t muck up the recipe. It took a little meddling to get the right ratios of butter/sugar/chocolate and beet but I got there in the end and thank God for that! They have made the frustrations of watching England playing in the world cup so much easier to muster. Chocolate heals all wounds.

There may be a lot of chocolate eating over the coming weeks…….

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Rich & gooey dark chocolate & raspberry brownies

Beets are naturally very sweet, which makes them a great substitute for refined sugar. The amount you use is important though- any more than this and your brownies will taste like beets- and that’s not the idea!

Serves 12

Sugar Saving: Masses

150g/5 oz trimmed and peeled beets (beetroot) chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
200g/7oz dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)
85g/3 oz butter, melted
3 large free-range eggs
75g/loosely packed 1/2 cup light brown soft sugar
100g/1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp ground almonds
50g/scant 1/2 cup cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
1/4 tsp kosher salt
170g/60z punnet raspberries

• Heat the oven to 325F/170C/Gas 3. Prepare a 9 x 9 inch square baking tin by greasing it well and lining with parchment paper along the bottom and up 2 opposing sides. Set up a mini food processor and electric mixer with the whisk attachment.

• Place the chopped beets in a bowl with a splash of water, cover with plastic wrap and cook in the microwave on high for 10 minutes or until very soft. Meanwhile, finely chop 3/4 of your chocolate, roughly chop the remaining and set aside to use later.

• Once the beetroot is soft place it in the mini food processor and blitz until mostly smooth. Add the finely chopped chocolate and blitz a couple of times then return the mixture to the still hot bowl and cover with plastic wrap again to allow the chocolate to fully melt.

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar together for 5 minutes or until tripled in volume. In a separate bowl whisk together the ground almonds, cocoa powder and salt.

• Melt the butter and mix into the chocolate/beet mixture until you have a silky and mostly smooth mixture. Turn the whisk to slow and gently add the mixture whilst the whisk is on. Mix only until just combined then remove the bowl to complete by hand.

• Fold in the dry ingredients, chopped chocolate and raspberries. Spread into your prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until set on top but you can tell it’s still quite soft in the middle. Allow to cool before slicing.