Healthy Vegan - Parsnip to Beetroot Fudge

A long while back a girl called Harry introduced me to Parsnip Fudge.

The girl in question is Harry Eastwood.  Harry Eastwood is a British celebrity chef and cookbook author of Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache (2009). Harry Eastwood is perhaps the first veggie desserts food writer and vegetable cookbook author in the UK; and I'd even go as far as to say perhaps the first to go beyond carrot and parsnip cake here, pushing the boundaries of hidden vegetables in cakes, desserts and puddings.  Her cakes are super loaded with vegetables with inviting fantastic names like Heartache Chocolate Cake made with whole aubergines.   She  opened up the imagination of chefs, home cooks and food bloggers that now adding vegetables to cakes, desserts and puddings has become a trend.  Some people still see vegetables in cakes and sweet things as unusual when these days its really not.   

Anyway, after all this high praise, I go and adapt her gorgeous Parsnip Fudge recipe and replace it with bleeding crimson Beetroot, I have been thinking about doing it for a long while and found the motivation to do it finally. So what was the motivation, I am married to a man who likes beetroot.  He also has a sweet tooth, very sweet.  He likes his sweet things more than I do - Yes, even chocolate.  I want to make him happy like he makes me happy, so these were made especially for him (but I have also shared some of them too, just don't tell him). 

By the way, You have to like beetroot to enjoy and appreciate these morsels, if not - I wouldn't even make this as it would be wasted on you, really - just go an eat a toffee fudge instead. 

I was so pleased myself especially as making fudge from scratch is still relatively new to me.  I have made vegan ones many times, but not traditional ones with fattening sickly sweet condensed milk, one of the first being Marmite fudge which was adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe Vegemite fudge and now this.  The stirring for this beetroot fudge took a little longer, but the result was Amazing, aesthetically and also in flavour.

I have a renewed sense of respect for people who make fudge from scratch now and will not bemoan at how expensive it is when I see it being sold, I will of course support artisan and independent traders.  

Of course you can adapt this Beetroot Fudge recipe like I have further with carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and even greens...I have also been thinking foraged wild weeds and seaweed, yes Seaweed Fudge and its not that unusual as its already been done by Fiona Bird in her cookbook Seaweed in the Kitchen.

You can find the link to the original Parsnip Vanilla fudge recipe below,  I replaced the parsnip with raw chopped beetroot that I blended with some of the condensed milk. My slightly adapted recipe instructions below  are a little simpler, but you will need a high speed powerful food blender.  If you don't have a high speed powerful blender, then fear not - you can still make this with cooked beetroot. I would recommend cooking the beetroot yourself from scratch in a pot, although you could try it with cooked beets (not pickled), my only concern is it may contain more liquid, so its up to you.   I am sharing these homemade crimson Beetroot fudge pieces with CookBlogShare hosted by Treat Petite hosted by The Baking Explorer and CakeyBoi.


Beetroot Fudge
Makes loads
High speed blender 
Line a square tin with grease proof parchment paper
Ingredients
200grams beetroot, peeled and chopped
450grams golden caster sugar
30grams butter
400g, my tin was 397g tin condensed milk (that was in the tin) otherwise 335g
Pinch of fine salt
Method
In a high speed blender, add the beetroot along with half of the condensed milk and blitz until it is smooth , stopping and scraping the sides if necessary.
Pour and scrape the beetroot flavoured condensed milk into a pan with all the other ingredients and the remaining condensed milk.
Bring to a gentle boil and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring ever so often.
After 30 minutes, remove from the heat and stir very quickly for a couple of minutes until the mixture feels that it is beginning to thicken.
Pour into the prepared tin and put in fridge overnight to set.
Remove from the tin, carefully pull away the used parchment paper and slice into as many big or small squares you want.
Keep refrigerated. 
Adapted from he Harry Eastwoods Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache Parsnip and Vanilla Fudge.