Yellow Mangelwurzel, Orange White Chocolate & Hazelnut Blondies

"Sometimes the best recipes begin before you've even stepped into the kitchen."

When I arrived to collect a basket of mangelwurzels for our village's Great Polden Mangelwurzel Off, they were spread out across the lawn waiting to be admired. Some were red, some golden yellow, all wonderfully wonky and full of character.

Standing there, I expected to be planning soups, salads or something savoury.

Instead, my first thought was...

Orange. White chocolate. Hazelnuts.

I couldn't explain why. Perhaps it was their soft golden colour, or perhaps they simply looked as though they belonged in a cake. Sometimes an ingredient quietly tells you what it wants to become, and it's worth listening.

Over the next couple of days I learnt that yellow mangelwurzel is a surprisingly modest ingredient. It doesn't dominate a dish or shout for attention. It is gently sweet with the faintest earthy note, adding moisture and a beautifully soft texture without overwhelming the flavours around it. That made it the perfect companion for fragrant orange zest, creamy white chocolate and toasted hazelnuts, and so Yellow Mangelwurzel, Orange White Chocolate & Hazelnut Blondies became a thing in my kitchen ...

The result isn't a carrot cake in disguise or a beetroot brownie pretending to be something else. It's simply a blondie that happens to have discovered an unexpected friend. Perhaps that's the lesson this forgotten vegetable has been teaching me all along. Not every ingredient needs to be the hero. Sometimes the quietest ones make everyone else shine.

Yellow Mangelwurzel, Orange White Chocolate & Hazelnut Blondies - The Recipe

Makes 9 Blondies

Ingredients

• 225g boiled yellow mangelwurzel, puréed very smooth

• 150g melted butter (or brown butter if you want to push it)

• 150–175g light brown sugar

• 100g white chocolate, melted

• 2 eggs

• zest of 1 large orange

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 150g plain flour

• 75g toasted hazelnuts, chopped

• pinch of salt

To decorate

A few whole toasted hazelnuts

Shavings of white chocolate

Finely shredded orange zest

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C fan and line a 20 x 30cm baking tin with baking parchment.

Melt the butter and the white chocolate in 30 second bursts in the microwave, until completely melted, allow to cool slightly, whisk in the sugar and fold in the mashed roasted mangelwurzel and the orange zest. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until smooth.

Gently fold in the flour, and salt until just combined and stir through the chopped white chocolate and toasted hazelnuts.

Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.

Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Leave to cool completely in the tin before slicing into squares.

Decorate with white chocolate curls, toasted hazelnuts and fresh strips of orange zest.

Notes

The orange isn't there to disguise the mangelwurzel. Instead, it lifts its gentle sweetness, while white chocolate adds creaminess and the toasted hazelnuts bring warmth and crunch.

If you're baking these for a school or community event where nut allergies are a concern, simply leave out the hazelnuts. The blondies are still delicious, or replace them with toasted pumpkin seeds or rolled oats for a little extra texture.

From My Kitchen With You

One of the joys of cooking is discovering that an ingredient doesn't have to be extraordinary to deserve a place on your table. Sometimes it simply needs the right companions.

This humble yellow mangelwurzel spent generations being grown as livestock feed, yet here it is tucked into a tray of blondies, quietly adding moisture, softness and just enough earthiness to make people pause after the first bite and wonder...

"There's something lovely in these... what is it?"

Those are my favourite kinds of recipes. The ones that don't shout. They simply invite you back for another piece.

Jo x