21 July 2016

Experimenting with Beetroot



We plant a lot of beetroot in the potager. It’s a good grower and I love its versatility.  You can boil it, roast it, or grate it raw for salads.  (Young beetroot leaves are great in salads too.) It’s a very healthy food although if you eat too much it turns your pee pink which can be a tad disconcerting for the unaware.



Today I am doing some experimental baking.  Beetroot muffins and a beetroot and chocolate cake.  It will be messy and I shall no doubt end up with very pink hands.  Hopefully I will end up with some edible delights to accompany our coffee breaks.  Watch this space.


This is the easy part, pulling the beetroots out of the ground.




Distracted by a bumblebee on the lavender.

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Grating the beetroot - lovely and messy. 




Beetroot Muffins




Beetroot and Chocolate Cake

The chocolate cake is wonderfully rich and moist, the beetroot muffins are quite pleasant but disappointingly un-pink.  I have separated the cake into batches and put most of it in the freezer.  Not very sophisticated baking but I'm looking forward to my coffee time tomorrow.

15 comments:

  1. As I have never been able to force myself to eat even a carrot cake I don't think I could eat a beetroot cake. The beetroot looked nice straight out of the ground though.

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    Replies
    1. DO you like chocolate cake or brownies? You wouldn't know you were eating beetroot.

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    2. which begs the question, why put it in!

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    3. Because it adds sweetness, it's healthy and I need to do something with all these goddam beetroots.

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Those Beetroots look very good. Maybe I'll grow some again next year. Sorry about my deleted comment above; it's early, and I'm still half asleep.

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    Replies
    1. We always have a good crop of beetroot. They are so versatile.

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  4. I don't like beetroot but I think I could eat it if smuggled in a cake and muffins as pretty as those!
    Greetings Maria x

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    Replies
    1. The chocolate cake is delicious, I doubt you would detect the actual beetroot taste.

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  5. Replies
    1. Bought it from a vide grenier for a couple of euros!

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  6. Sadly we are non-cake-eaters - but I do like the look of that chocolate concoction.

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    Replies
    1. We are not big cake or dessert eaters but I do enjoy a small piece of cake with my morning coffee. Usually it's a homemade low cholesterol oat and nut cookie so the chocolate cake is a bit of an indulgence.

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  7. I lost my beetroot, possibly to slugs. Delicious pickled. the muffins look yummy.

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    Replies
    1. Slugs are an absolute menace aren't they? I've made beetroot chutney in the past but I've never tried pickling them.

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