My mother never attempted to hide vegetables in my food as a child, for which I am eternally grateful. However, as an adult who prefers sweeties to her greens, I've had to fall back on using evil parent tactics on myself. The result is surprisingly delicious, not to mention super healthy and low fat. Plus, nobody can ever guess the secret ingredient!

Approximate Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 3 handfuls fresh spinach
• 1 1/4 cups plain flour
• 1 cup caster (super-fine) sugar or light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable/sunflower oil
• 1 tsp lemon/lime juice or vinegar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, (350 degrees F). Steam the spinach for a couple of minutes, then whiz in the blender until it's well chopped.

Add all the dry ingredients and whiz until the mixture resembles slightly damp sand, the kind that's good for building sandcastles out of. Add all the wet ingredients and whiz until it looks like cake mix.

Grease a 6x6 inch tin and pour the mixture in, then bake for 20-30 minutes, checking frequently by jabbing a fork in the middle. It should end up with a moist, brownie consistency.

These keep really well and don't leave a lot of crumbs as they're so moist, so they're great for wrapping up as a thoughtful, handmade present.

By Beth from England