Beetroot Burgers

I'm over in the Heart Home kitchen this week sharing one of my favourite mid-week recipes for Beetroot Burgers. I can take no credit for the actual recipe - it comes from the beautiful Green Kitchen Stories blog. These crimson little patties are quick and easy to make and so very good for you. If your thoughts of beetroot turn to the crinkled variety in jars of vinegar, then your preconceptions of beetroot will be changed for ever once you've tried these burgers. They taste fresh, earthy, natural and incredibly satisfying. 

The rain was hammering down on the window when I took these photographs, but my mind did fast-forward for a moment to those summer barbeques and I know already what I'll be taking to put on the grill.

You can see the recipe over at Heart Home.

Recipe: Green Kitchen Stories

Photography: Buttercup Days

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

Last week, the children and I went to a (4th) birthday party at the beach. The little gathering took place at one of the beach huts and adults and kids alike enjoyed this cake that I bought along.

I've mentioned before my love of the food blog Green Kitchen Stories. The Banana Granola recipe that a featured not so long ago is one of theirs. So is this one. I'm a fan of using vegetables in cakes: not because I'm some kind of health freak, but because I love the way their addition makes for such delicious moist cakes and it is a pretty good way to use any vegetable gluts we may reap from our allotment. I've paired chocolate and beetroots together in the past, and have always been pleased with the outcome, so I was keen to try out this recipe. The beetroot gives the chocolate a depth, meaning it is not too sweet and the texture is good and fudgy. 

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

100 g sunflower oil (coconut oil or olive oil)
125 ml maple syrup (or honey)
50 g dark chocolate (70%), broken into pieces
250 g (approx 3 - 4 medium) raw beetroots, grated
3 eggs
375 ml spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
5 tbsp cocoa powder
a pinch of salt
a little melted butter and a dusting of flour for preparing your tin.

Preheat the oven to 350F/175°C. Using a pastry brush painted your cake tin with a thin coating of butter. If you are using a fancy shaped tin as I did, ensure you butter all the fluted parts to enable your cake to come out the tin cleanly and easily. Finally give your tin a light dusting of flour and set aside.

Warm the oil in a medium size saucepan on very low heat. Add the maple syrup and chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat. 

Add the grated beets. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and then add them to the pan. 

Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt together and stir into the beet mixture. Pour the mixture into your prepared cake tin. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until slightly dark and crackelated on top and still a little sticky inside. Enjoy!

It is utterly perfect served on its own with a cup of coffee or dress it up with seasonal berries and serve with mascarpone.

Recipe: Green Kitchen Stories
Photography: Buttercup Days

Banana Granola

Have you ever made your own Muesli or Granola? It is well worth the effort; though actually there is very little effort involved. I love the fact that you can tailor the ingredients to suit your taste and you know exactly what you are putting into it. Earlier this week I had an urge to fill a Kilner jar with something wholesome and delicious to start the day with. So I did.

These days as well as dipping into my growing library of cookbooks for inspiration, I find myself looking at some of the amazing food blogs that are out there. Green Kitchen Stories, Pastry Affair, What Katie Ate, My Darling Lemon Thyme and Pratos Travessa are just a few that I follow with a passion.

It was Green Kitchen Stories that I turned to for this recipe. I didn't tweak or tamper with it in any way or form. It was a Lily that needed no guilding. In a mere half an hour you can have yourself a jar of this good stuff that will last you a week or more. You can find the recipe here. I like it served with plain yoghurt and fresh berries, Arthur opts for yoghurt and raisins and Lily prefers just plain old milk. David on the other hand sticks to his usual bowl of branflakes. Oh well, that's his loss.

Photography: Buttercup Days