BROWNIES BAR RECIPES

Steps:

• Wear a pair of rubber gloves to stop your hands from staining, then top, tail and peel the beetroot – you’ll need about 400g flesh. Roughly chop and put into a large bowl. Add a splash of water, cover with cling film, then microwave on High for 12 mins or until tender.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. While the beetroot cooks, butter then line a 20 x 30cm traybake or small roasting tin. Roughly chop the chocolate and cut the butter into cubes. Tip the cooked beetroot into a sieve, drain off any excess liquid, then put into a food processor or blender with the chocolate, butter and vanilla. Whizz until the mix is as smooth as you can get it. The chocolate and butter will melt as you do this.
• Put the sugar and eggs into a large bowl, then beat using an electric hand whisk until thick, pale and foamy, about 2 mins. Spoon the beetroot mix into the bowl (it won’t look too pretty at this stage, but bear with me), then use a large metal spoon to fold it into the whisked eggs. Try to conserve as much air in the mixture as you can. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder, then gently fold these in to make a smooth batter.
• Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25 mins or until risen all over, with just the merest quiver under the centre of the crust when you shake the pan. Cool completely in the tin, then cut into squares.

Steps:

• It's not as if I were short of a brownie recipe or two: I have over the years made them on easy autopilot; but I am no less grateful for this everyday, no-notice version. They are less extravagant - I use cocoa powder in place of the good-quality chocolate, and stud the mixture with a newstand's or convenience store's bar or two of milk chocolate - although to taste them, you would never, never guess. They ooze with such dark elegance and deep, deep chocolatiness.
• This is the recipe you turn to when a child or colleague informs you last thing that you're expected to bake something for a bake sale tomorrow. You can just smile serenely and head for the cupboard. If you're working from a more restrained array, so are clean out of light brown sugar, and there's no chance to nip to a convenience store for the chocolate, then just use 1 1/2 cups regular white sugar and up the butter to 1 1/2 and the cocoa to a heady 1 cup.
• A final note or, rather, nag: when I say cocoa powder, I do mean unsweetened cocoa; do not under any circumstance ever substitute drinking chocolate.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Melt the butter over a gentle heat in a medium-sized saucepan.
• When it's melted, add the sugar, stirring with a wooden spoon (still over a low heat) to help it blend with the melted butter.
• Whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and pinch of salt, and then stir into the pan; when mixed (this will be a very dry mixture, and not wholly blended at this stage), remove from the heat.
• In a bowl or jug, whisk the eggs with the vanilla extract and then mix into the brownie mixture in the pan.
• Stir in the chopped chocolate and quickly pour and scrape into a foil-lined baking tin or disposable foil pan, spreading the mixture with a spatula, and cook in the preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. It will look set, dark and dry on top, but when you feel the surface, you will sense it is still wibbly underneath and a cake tester will come out gungy. This is desirable.
• Transfer the pan to a rack to cool a little before cutting into 16 pieces and dusting with confectioners' sugar. I love these gorgeously warm. But then again, I love them cold, too. Actually, when cold they are properly speaking more brownie-like: gooily tender within and moreishly chewy on top.
• Make Ahead Note: The brownies can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in airtight container. Will keep for total of 5 days.
• Freeze Note: The brownies can be frozen for up to 3 months in airtight container, layered with baking parchment. Thaw overnight in cool place.