Ingredients:

• 500g whole raw beetroot , washed
• 100ml rapeseed oil
• 250g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa, dairy-free if you want, chopped)
• 3 large eggs
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 140g plain flour
• 75g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 50g walnut piece , roughly chopped

For the icing

• 100g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp beetroot juice

Step 1

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line a 20 x 30cm cake tin with baking parchment.

Step 2

Boil the beetroots in a pan of boiling salted water for 15-20 mins or until tender. Drain and leave to cool before peeling (wear clean rubber gloves to peel if you want to avoid beet-stained hands). Chop one-third of the cooked beetroots into small cubes and blitz the remainder in a blender or food processor to a paste. Sit the paste in a sieve over a bowl – just until you have collected 1-2 tbsp juice. Save this for the icing, and mix the oil into the purée.

Step 3

Melt the chocolate slowly in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and leave to cool slightly. Use an electric whisk to beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl until light, fluffy and tripled in size. Carefully fold the eggs into the beetroot mixture, followed by the melted chocolate.

Step 4

Fold in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, then add walnuts and the chopped beetroot.

Step 5

Pour into your prepared tin and bake for 20-25 mins. The brownies should still be slightly gooey in the middle. Allow to cool. Mix enough reserved beetroot juice with the icing sugar to get a runny icing – dilute with water if you need.