Fold blitzed beetroot into melted chocolate, then bake and top with candied stalks and dried, powdered skin
Whenever possible, I prefer to leave the skin on vegetables, but boiled beetroot skins are unappetisingly papery. So I transform them into a vivid natural food dye to use in both sweet and savoury dishes by dehydrating them in a single layer in the oven (ideally do this alongside other food to save on energy), before cooling and grinding to an all but imperishable powder.
In fact, the whole beetroot plant is edible, with each separate part nutritious and unique in its own way. The leaves can be cooked like any leafy green, while an abundance of stalks can be turned into a rather special candy. To make it, put the stalks in a small saucepan, measure out enough water just to cover them by half, noting the amount in millilitres, then add the same amount of sugar in grams. Bring to a boil and cook until the sugar has thickened into a soft-crack toffee (ie, when it hits 132-143C). Lift out the pieces of caramelised stalk, arrange them spaced apart on a lined tray and leave to cool and harden. Store in a clean, airtight jar or similar, and use to decorate desserts such as today’s cake.
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