Sunday, November 1, 2009

Red Velvet Brownies

Here's the logic: Brownies = kind of chocolate cake. Red velvet cake = kind of chocolate cake. By the law of transitivity, red velvet brownies should be real tasty. These have a small amount of beet in them for added complexity of flavor and to make the red color without food coloring. Sounds weird, but trust me, it's good, and has a very interesting flavor and keeps moistness without too much oil.

Despite making 3 batches of this one, there are also no pictures in existence....

Red Velvet Brownies, Cream Cheese Frosting

Brownies:

1/2 c beet puree*
2 c sugar
1/2 c oil
2/3 c buttermilk (or 1/3 c lowfat milk + 1/3 c yogurt)
1 egg
6 T cocoa powder (1/4 cup + 2 T)
2 c white flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 c chocolate chips
Red food coloring (optional)

Mix beets, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and egg. I like to do this in the food processor because I've already used it to puree the beets.
Add cocoa, flour, and salt.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Add a few drops of red food coloring if it's not pink enough for you.
Put in greased and floured 11x7 pan.
Cook at 350 F for about 40 minutes, or until just set in center-- Underdone brownies are better than overdone ones...
Cool, then frost!


Frosting:

2 T cream cheese, room temperature
2 T butter, room temperature
2/3 c powdered sugar
Splash of milk
Splash of rum**
Dash of vanilla


Blend cream cheese, butter, and sugar together. Add liquids to thin and make a spreadable consistency.





*Quarter beets, steam them for ~30 minutes (or until fairly soft), then peel, and puree in food processor. Steaming preserves more color than boiling does. Or, use beets from a can. Or baby food, I guess.
** Can use extra vanilla and extra milk instead.


1 comment:

  1. Makes sense to me. And it sounds like a brownie I might actually enjoy...

    ReplyDelete