weekend baking \\ beetroot brownies

boo woke up at 6am as usual so i've been up since 6am. it's not ideal for a saturday morning but if i look on the bright side, it means i can start my day earlier and get more done. this is becoming a pattern now, me trying to do too many things on the weekend, over exerting myself. on Sunday night, i would be exhausted and i'd ask myself, why i had to cramp so many things into 48 hours. then i would promise myself, i would take it easy next weekend. but when next weekend comes, the same thing would happen. sometimes i wish my body would work with what i had planned in my head and not give in to tiredness and fatigue. that way, i could achieve so much more. or maybe my head should work with my body not the other way around?!? 

apart from the usual groceries shopping and laundry, i managed to bake some beetroot brownies, take boo to a three year old birthday party, make dinner and bake a loaf of banana bread. i wasn't planning to bake this weekend but i found two beetroots in the fridge we bought a couple of weeks ago and i didn't want them to go to waste and i'm visiting Heidi and her 7 days old son tomorrow. in exchange for some newborn cuddles, i'm bringing a loaf of banana bread and a small gift for the baby. 

this is a recipe from the River Cottage series. a good way to incorporate beetroot in our diet. some people can't wrap their head around having beetroot in their desserts but boo loves them. 

250g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

250g dark chocolate, broken into pieces 

250g caster sugar

250g beetroot, boiled until tender, cooled, peeled and grated

150g self raising flour

3 eggs

a pinch of salt

grease and line a 20x20cm square cake tin. 

preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl. in a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until combined then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. 

combine the salt with the flour and sift them into the chocolate mixture. gently fold them together with a spatula followed by the grated beetroot. stop mixing once they are all combined. 

bake for 20-25 minutes. leave to cool in the cake tin and cut into 16 squares. 

\\ original recipe can be found here