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Sunday 11 April 2010

A Special Thank You from Lucy

Lucy has just sent me her special recipe for Chocolate Beetroot Brownies for you after making me some to try. I would like to show you a picture, but there wouldn't be very much to see as I am afraid they are so blissfully light, moist, delectable and just sheer yummy that there are only a few crumbs left.....oh dear. Instead here is a picture of a very special carved and embellished wooden pin-keep which I keep on my desk to remind me always of special friends - and the reason for sharing all the good things in life.
A little word of warning - you will need fresh beetroot for this recipe as pickled beetroot will simply not be the same! But you might like to add a drop of heat with a little pinch of chilli or cayenne powder.

250grams (8.8 oz) of dark chocolate
200grams (7 oz) of unsalted butter
250grams (8.8 oz) of cooked, pureed beetroot
3 eggs
a drop of vanilla extract
200grams (7 oz) of caster sugar
50grams (1.8 oz) of cocoa powder
50grams of rice flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) of baking powder
100grams (3.5 oz) of ground almonds
A 12" x 8" (approx) brownie tin (25 cm x 20 cm) - hint surface area of approx 100 square inches or 500 square centimetres

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over hot water until liquid
In another bowl sieve the cocoa and rice flour together and add the almonds
In another bowl mix beetroot, egg and vanilla, then add chocolate and butter. Mix in dry ingredients.
Bake at 180 Centigrade (350 Fahrenheit or Gas Mark 5) for 30-35 minutes.

Thank you all so very much for your kindness in sponsoring and supporting Lucy in her Race for Life. Please feel free to share this recipe with your guilds and friends.

11 comments:

  1. You don't need to post this comment. I just wanted to let you know that, as nice as the song you've put on the blog is, I loath blogs that play music at me. My husband works from home and we share the office space. He is often on conference calls on the phone, so I have to quickly mute the speaker so as not to bother him. And, of course, music tastes vary so much . . .
    I'd appreciate it if you removed the song, because I check your blog several times a day to see what's new!
    Anne

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  2. Thank you for telling me this. Does the music play automatically for you? We have to click the play button to start the music here....I wonder what it is like for other people....

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  3. Jacqueline,

    Congrats to Lucy for her successful run! What a great thing to have happen.

    What a tasty looking recipe! I can't say I ever had anything made with beetroot, but I have had chocolate brownies with coffee used. (And a pot roast recipe that uses coffee too - mom makes the best!)

    That pinkeep is beautiful! Where do the pins stay? In the little holes on the top of the pinkeep or just in the "glove" area?

    Hugs,
    Jennifer

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  4. Mmmmmm! Brownies and a pot roast with coffee sound really delicious. I think baking with root vegetables may be a northern thing. My aunt alawys put grated carrot in her Christmas Puddings and Cake - in fact when she was too old to bake herself, she would buy a shop made Christmas Pudding and 'deconstruct' it so she could get her grated carrots in there! I like putting mashed parsnips in my ginger cakes......
    As for the lovely pin keep, the pins are the balls you can see at the edge of the cuff end of the glove - and they go into a thin layer of foam between the two wooden halves (I should have shown you the underside too....) the rest of the work on the glove is like a brass studding with triangles of wood removed. it is very delicate and fine and I am so pleased to have it.

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  5. I am so glad you asked that! It should read Vanilla extract and Caster sugar. Thank you so much for pointing that out.

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  6. Thanks for the recipe - it looks lovely! And I so love your pin keep - in fact, I have one almost exactly like it, hahaha. I collect all things "hands", and those little wooden pieces are so special!

    I had no idea you had music on here - so it doesn't play automatically for everyone - I use Mozilla Firebird as a browser - will go check my IE to see if it's different, and if it is, will pop back in and let you know.

    Julie

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  7. Dear Julie I always appreciate the hand of friendship from the Company of Friends - thank you! I centainly don't want to blast people with music - I just have days when I feel happy and it's nice to share - but only if people have the choice to switch on the music or let it go.

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  8. Jacqueline,

    How wonderful and sweet a pinkeep you have then! Where did you get it?

    Hugs,
    Jennifer

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  9. Yes, the music plays automatically for me and for some reason the icon or little window is squashed so there is no way to stop it other than turning off my speaker.

    Thanks for not being offended by my comment, which looks rather ruder than I intended now that I read it again.
    Anne

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  10. Please don't worry, Anne, if you don't tell me these things, how would I know. We don't often play music, only when we are hard at work. So, it won't be there all the time and we'll shut it off on Wednesdays for you. But I wonder if you have a little speaker icon on your bottom tool bar which you can use to turn the sound off - we all have different set-ups - so maybe you have this and it might help. I hope so.

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