Ultra gooey chocolate beetroot brownies

Beetroot brownies

When I worked near Borough Market, every Friday was brownie day and I devoured an obscene amount of brownies in my quest to determine which stall sold the best. They were judged purely on taste and sheer eating pleasure, although it was very tempting to take the size into account ­­as some of them were ginormous slabs, the size of books.

Mango sorbet

20 minutes minutes to prepare, plus freezing

Ingredients
3 mangoes
1 tbsp white rum
1 lime
200g caster sugar
90ml liquid glucose
220ml water

If you’ve read any of my other recipes then you might have picked up that I’ve gone a bit mango mad recently. It’s called the king of fruits for a good reason. Being hot outside I want to make something cooling and refreshing so it’s an obvious choice of mango sorbet. I normally associate sorbet with a Coeliac friend who orders it for dessert as there is normally no other dairy free option on the menu. It seems almost too virtuous to be an enjoyable dessert but how wrong I have been. They can be incredibly intense in flavour and can be the perfect way to end a meal.

Having a cut down on all things butter and cream at the moment (not a total ban you hear) I wanted a simple sorbet that would really allow the amazing honeyed flavour of the perfectly ripe mangoes to shine through. The reason I’ve made stock syrup with liquid glucose is that it helps make a smooth and grainy free sorbet. A splash of alcohol helps too as it has a low freezing point. Perfect sorbet is tricky to get right and I’ve had a few crunchy efforts in my time where I haven’t got the balance of sugar right. Not enough sugar will result in grainy texture but adding too much will be too sweet. It’s therefore essential to taste the sorbet before churning as fruits will vary wildly in levels of sugar and you can add more if necessary.

1. Start by making the sugar syrup by putting a saucepan on some electric scales. Measure out the sugar and water and then the liquid glucose to the pan. This should avoid any sticky pans! Put a medium heat and bring to boil. Simmer for a few minutes until starts to thicken and turn glossy. Allow to cool completely.
2. Peel the mangoes and remove the flesh from the stones. Add to a food processor with the juice of a lime and the rum. Blitz until completely smooth then add the syrup in small amounts until happy with the level of sweetness. To give you a guide, I used 300ml of syrup but remember your mangoes may differ in sweetness.
3. Strain the puree using a sieve and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Churn in an ice-cream machine and then transfer to a container and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.
4. Remove from the freezer for 10 minutes to soften and serve with toasted coconut, if you like.