CANDIED Beetroot

Eat as sweets, decorate cakes or make my super rich chocolate pot.

150g unrefined sugar, 100ml water, 1 medium beetroot (about 200g)

Wash the beetroot and peel if the skin is very rough. Cut into slices as thinly as you can. Boil the sugar with the water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the beetroot slices and simmer for 10 minutes until the beetroot is sweet and soft. Lay the beetroot slices onto a sheet of baking paper on a tray. Keep the syrup to use as a sauce. Put in the oven at 170C for ten to fifteen minutes to caramelize them further. Be careful not to overcook them as they will go bubbly and burnt, tasting of nothing. Allow to cool.

Chocolate pot with Candied Beetroot

This is an intensely rich dessert, so the smallest pot is all you need. The candied beetroots make nice chewy morsels.

Ingredients – Makes 6-8 small pots
CANDIED beetroot from recipe above
100g caramelized beetroot syrup
200g Dark chocolate 70% cocoa, broken into small pieces
220g double cream

Method
1) First prepare the candied beetroot from the recipe above. Put 8 aside to decorate the pots. Chop the rest into small pieces.
2) Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot but not boiling water. Chocolate melts at body temperature so doesn’t need excessive heat to melt it. Stir gently. When melted remove from the heat.
2) Slowly stir in the beetroot syrup, then the cream.
3) When the mixture is smooth add the chopped caramelized beetroot.
4) Pour into 6-8 small pots. Serve with a spoon of whipped cream, a slice of candied beetroot and drizzle of beetroot syrup.

Storage: Candied beetroot will keep for a month in a tub in the fridge. Chocolate pots will keep for 4 days covered in the fridge.

More recipes and variations:
Chocolate spread. If in the unlikely situation you have spare, this makes an amazingly decadent alternative to nutella.
Candied beets with goat’s cheese. Top the candied beets with some soft goat’s cheese as a canape. Good for an amuse bouche or as part of a cheese course.