Beety bars
A photo caught my eye in the January edition of Country Homes and Interior magazine that I had filched from my mum recently. The picture of the brightly coloured purple bars of yumminess made me determined to give them a try.
Eventually, after remembering to purchase the beetroot, I made a start...
The recipe itself is quite long winded and uses a lot of equipment, sometimes meaning a lot of washing up inbetween for someone who doesn't have the facility to store loads of bowls, mixers, etc.
I paced myself, breaking the recipe down into manageable stages over three days. This fitted in with my normal cooking day too, and meant the final making day was actually quite pleasurable. However, if you have a rainy day and all the time in the world, this would be a perfect treat!
Betty bars (or Beetroot biscuit bars, as in magazine).
Purple layer:
30g rolled oats
3 tbsp ground almonds
2 large beetroot, scrubbed - here I grabbed the last bunch in the supermarket (guess lots of people are having a go at this one!). It was a selection of small and medium sized, so I cooked and used all 4. There was no specifics on weight, so best fit works.
Olive oil to rub on beetroot.
100ml milk (recipe said whole milk, I used semi-skimmed because that's what we use).
180g softened unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
180g caster sugar
4 large eggs
200g plain flour
Pinch of salt
2.5 tsp baking powder.
Recipe also offered option to add purple food colouring, but I prefer mine natural - your choice.
Base layer:
120 g butter
300g pack of oaty biscuits
3 tbsp light brown sugar
Half tsp salt
OK, so my stages...
Firstly, I roasted my beetroot. I scrubbed and rubbed with oil, before roasting at 190°C for 1 hour. After this, I left them to cool. In fact, I left them until the following day...
I also, pulsed my oats and ground almonds in a processor until they were powdery, and then set them aside in a bowl until I needed them.
The next day:
A word of caution, and a word of advice before starting...
Wear an apron and don't poke a knife into a Beetroot in case it decides to spurt back at you and cover your light grey t shirt with juice! Yes, it was a set back... change of clothes and washing machine on, I got back to the kitchen...
CAREFULLY peel your beetroot and cut into rough cubes. Once again, I didn't have time to carry on, so they went in the fridge until later that day, when I blended them in the processor with the milk until smooth. Add more milk if necessary. This puree went into a bowl and back in the fridge until day 3.
Final stage:
Warm oven to 180°C and grease and line a 23cm square baking tin.
Cream the butter and sugar with the vanilla extract until pale and fluffy (although, if like me you use golden caster sugar, you will by now realise 'pale' is not what it used to be with white caster sugar!).
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then gently stir in the flour, salt and baking powder.
Stir in the beetroot puree and the oat mix and then pop the bowl in the fridge to keep chilled. I think it helped that the beetroot was already chilled as it went into the cake mix - no waiting for it to cool.
To make the Base Layer, melt the butter in a large saucepan, then set aside to cool whilst you throw the biscuits into the processor and pulse until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Pour the biscuit into the butter with the sugar and salt and mix well.
Press the mixture into your prepared tin. I start with a wooden spoon and then use a metal spoon to really pack it down and smooth the top.
Bake in the oven for 10 mins and then take out and top with the beetroot cake mix.
Return to the oven for 35-40 mins until the purple layer has set and is dry to touch.
Allow to cool in the tin before removing the paper, cutting into bars and transferring to a storage tin. You can see the shape of my bars below, but these are different to the squarer bars I was drawn to in the original photo. You can cut these whatever shape suits you and your storage tin.
The recipe stated serving with chocolate peelings/shavings, so again, up to you!
Definitely an unusual taste, quite earthy with a sweet base. Hope you enjoy them! 😊
Eventually, after remembering to purchase the beetroot, I made a start...
The recipe itself is quite long winded and uses a lot of equipment, sometimes meaning a lot of washing up inbetween for someone who doesn't have the facility to store loads of bowls, mixers, etc.
I paced myself, breaking the recipe down into manageable stages over three days. This fitted in with my normal cooking day too, and meant the final making day was actually quite pleasurable. However, if you have a rainy day and all the time in the world, this would be a perfect treat!
Betty bars (or Beetroot biscuit bars, as in magazine).
Purple layer:
30g rolled oats
3 tbsp ground almonds
2 large beetroot, scrubbed - here I grabbed the last bunch in the supermarket (guess lots of people are having a go at this one!). It was a selection of small and medium sized, so I cooked and used all 4. There was no specifics on weight, so best fit works.
Olive oil to rub on beetroot.
100ml milk (recipe said whole milk, I used semi-skimmed because that's what we use).
180g softened unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
180g caster sugar
4 large eggs
200g plain flour
Pinch of salt
2.5 tsp baking powder.
Recipe also offered option to add purple food colouring, but I prefer mine natural - your choice.
Base layer:
120 g butter
300g pack of oaty biscuits
3 tbsp light brown sugar
Half tsp salt
OK, so my stages...
Firstly, I roasted my beetroot. I scrubbed and rubbed with oil, before roasting at 190°C for 1 hour. After this, I left them to cool. In fact, I left them until the following day...
I also, pulsed my oats and ground almonds in a processor until they were powdery, and then set them aside in a bowl until I needed them.
The next day:
A word of caution, and a word of advice before starting...
Wear an apron and don't poke a knife into a Beetroot in case it decides to spurt back at you and cover your light grey t shirt with juice! Yes, it was a set back... change of clothes and washing machine on, I got back to the kitchen...
CAREFULLY peel your beetroot and cut into rough cubes. Once again, I didn't have time to carry on, so they went in the fridge until later that day, when I blended them in the processor with the milk until smooth. Add more milk if necessary. This puree went into a bowl and back in the fridge until day 3.
Final stage:
Warm oven to 180°C and grease and line a 23cm square baking tin.
Cream the butter and sugar with the vanilla extract until pale and fluffy (although, if like me you use golden caster sugar, you will by now realise 'pale' is not what it used to be with white caster sugar!).
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then gently stir in the flour, salt and baking powder.
Stir in the beetroot puree and the oat mix and then pop the bowl in the fridge to keep chilled. I think it helped that the beetroot was already chilled as it went into the cake mix - no waiting for it to cool.
To make the Base Layer, melt the butter in a large saucepan, then set aside to cool whilst you throw the biscuits into the processor and pulse until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Pour the biscuit into the butter with the sugar and salt and mix well.
Press the mixture into your prepared tin. I start with a wooden spoon and then use a metal spoon to really pack it down and smooth the top.
Bake in the oven for 10 mins and then take out and top with the beetroot cake mix.
Return to the oven for 35-40 mins until the purple layer has set and is dry to touch.
Allow to cool in the tin before removing the paper, cutting into bars and transferring to a storage tin. You can see the shape of my bars below, but these are different to the squarer bars I was drawn to in the original photo. You can cut these whatever shape suits you and your storage tin.
The recipe stated serving with chocolate peelings/shavings, so again, up to you!
Definitely an unusual taste, quite earthy with a sweet base. Hope you enjoy them! 😊
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