"Great British Bake Off" veteran Ruby Tandoh sees you. In her newest book, "Cook As You Are," she acknowledges the humble home cook, "in your ordinary kitchen, with your likes and dislikes, your tastes and aversions and your washing up piled in the sink." We may not have the same tastes, budgets or schedules, but what we share is a common need, and often, a common hope. We don't just want to feed ourselves and the people we share the table with, we want to do it well.
For my money, Tandoh is not just an inventive and exciting recipe developer, she's one of the most articulate and expansive food writers out there right now. She deeply understands the emotional complexities of eating and the realities of time, ability and budget constraints, and she will actively help you make a great meal whether you're working with garlic cloves or powder, fresh lemon zest or bottled juice. I love this book like I have loved few others of the past few years, in no small part because Tandoh is so effortlessly judgement-free. I also love that she divides the book into sections like "simple recipes for when you're low on time or energy," "making great use of kitchen staples," and even, for those rare magical moments, "recipes to linger over."
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Because I believe most cookbooks can be judged first and best by their brownie recipes, the brownie is where I found myself first in "Cook As You Are" — and Tandoh did not disappoint.
Her "pantry brownies" recipe acknowledges a cruel truth — that "by the time your sweet toothed cravings are baying for brownie blood, you've probably already eaten all the chocolate in the house." So in true service journalism fashion, she offers up a strictly cocoa-based brownie for when the cupboard is all but bare. There's no butter, no melted chocolate and only two eggs, so your wallet will thank you. It comes together in a single bowl. Oh, right, and it's also really damn good. I may have to find another way of judging cookbooks, because they just might be my forever brownie.
Tandoh suggests any vegetable, olive or coconut oil here, and I have made my brownies with extra virgin oil for a deep, peppery kick. You can scale back to a milder oil if that's more your speed. I also made mine with a mix of regular and black cocoa, if you feel like experimenting. Feel free to zhush these up and make them your own with whatever toppings or mix-ins you please, but rest assured they are already perfect, just as they are.
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Inspired by "Cook As You Are: Recipes for Real Life, Hungry Cooks and Messy Kitchens" by Ruby Tandoh
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil (or lighter oil if you prefer)
- 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons of your preferred milk
- 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup of cocoa powder OR 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and 1/4 cup of black cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon of instant coffee (or 1/2 teaspoon of instant espresso)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon of flaky salt
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8-inch square or 8-inch round baking pan with parchment and lightly grease it.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil and the sugar.
- Stir in the eggs and the milk.
- Whisk in the flour, cocoa, instant coffee, vanilla and salt. Stir until just smooth.
- Bake for roughly 20 minutes, until just set but not jiggly. An ever so slightly underdone brownie is a perfect brownie.
Cook's Notes
Tandoh says its fine to swap out superfine white sugar for the brown if that's what you have on hand.
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