Beetroot was one of the few vegetables that did well this summer. Climbing beans were a disaster. Flowers failed to set and immature beans dropped off the plants. Very disappointing to see. But beetroot didn’t seem to mind the heat and drought. I write a weekly column for Garden News Magazine all about the fruit and vegetables I’ve harvested in the garden and what I’m making with them. It’s a fun project and I really look forward to my cooking and recipe-writing sessions. Sometimes the recipes come from my Mum who is a fabulous cook. Sometimes I delve into a lovely archive of recipes shared by my late mother-in-law Joan. Many happy memories swirl around as I make her famous flapjack and fruit cake recipes. Joan never came to visit without having a cake in her shopping bag. And we always looked forward to seeing what she’d got in her cake tin in the pantry at home. Some of the recipes are just ones I’ve devised for feeding my family of four (although the girls are grown up now and have homes of their own). Nothing too fancy or with too many ingredients. In fact, most recipes can be made with a few basic store-cupboard ingredients and what vegetables you might have in the veg basket or fridge. They don’t take hours to make either. I’ve always been frantically busy, so recipes have to be quick and easy. I’ve had some lovely letters and e mails from Garden News readers thanking me for the recipes which they say are simple to follow and tasty without taking too long to cook.
Here’s a recent column featuring deliciously moist beetroot and chocolate muffins. Have a go at making them and let me know how you get on. I freeze batches of beetroot in quantities required for these cakes, so I always have the ingredients to hand.
You can freeze the little cakes and they thaw out within minutes.
These photos were taken in the back-of-the house glass porch, the only sunny place at the time, and my pressed glass cake stand is balanced on top of an upturned laundry wicker basket! No one will know….
For the avoidance of doubt, please don’t eat hyacinths! They are poisonous.
Bramble Garden 
Have you ever made this as a big cake, Karen? Incidentally, going on taste, Aldi’s chocolate (they ahve 70% and 85%, the latter being my all-time favourite) is superior to Lindt’s. in my opinion any way, and of course it is much cheaper
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I’ve made it as a tea loaf size cake. I’m going to try Aldi’s chocolate. I must admit, I bought the Lindt at the co-op when they had it half price. I bought rather a lot…. 😂. But then, I’ve lost a lot of weight so have a good excuse to eat more cake and chocolate. Do let me know if you make it as a big cake. I broke the chocolate into quite small pieces, but they didn’t melt and made a nice crunchy middle to the cake. Have a lovely weekend. Karen x
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Will do – and you won’t regret trying Aldi’s chocolate! 😁
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Lovely recipes and family history. I hope you are better now and will speak at Rempstone again sometime.
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I agree with you about the beetroot doing well and rubbish beans! I am definitely going to try this, a whole cake is wasted on two of us so this will be perfect, thank you for sharing .
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Thank you Jan. I usually have a few draws in my freezer full of beans for winter. None this year. Luckily I’ve sown some late kale, cabbage, chard and spinach which might be very small, but will help with winter greens. I forgot to say, you can freeze these little cakes and they thaw out within minutes. The chocolate type I recommend is needed, as this makes the flavour. I chop it up so there any tiny chunks which melt when you eat them. Enjoy! Karen x
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Yes, the hyacinth bulbs did make me laugh Karen! 😃 The muffins look delicious and I must remember this recipe for next summer when I have beetroot again. Mine (my first homegrown this year) were also a great success despite the heat, but cooking them in the heat was a chore! I had no idea you could freeze beetroot. I presume you cook it first and then dice it? Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you Cathy. Glad it made you smile too! Yes, cook and slice it so that it thaws out quickly. I put the slices on a tray so the beetroot is ‘free flowing’ and not stuck together. You can also store them in dry compost or sand in a potting shed, but we have to keep an eye on the mice who like them, and also it’s much easier to get some out of the freezer than go over the potting shed for it. Hope you are having a great week. Karen x
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Thanks Karen!
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I’d just as soon not taste hyacinth muffins. Your photos are lovely.
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Me neither! It did make me laugh though. Thanks Anne. Hope you are having a good week. Karen x
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This week is going well, as do most weeks, I’m happy to say.
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That’s so good to hear ❤️ xx
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