Guinness brownies with salted caramel drizzle

Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking parchment. Pour the Guinness into a saucepan and bubble over a medium-high heat until reduced to 150ml (10-15 minutes), keeping an eye on it to ensure it doesn’t overflow. Set aside.

Put 70g sugar in another saucepan with 2 tbsp water and stir gently with a wooden spoon over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat and cook, without stirring, until it caramelises and turns an amber colour (don’t let it go too dark).

Remove the caramel pan from the heat and stir in 10g butter until melted, then the cream, 50ml reduced Guinness and ½ tsp sea salt. The mixture will seize up, so put it back over a low heat and stir vigorously until it becomes smooth again. Bubble for 3-5 minutes to reduce; it should have a consistency slightly thicker than double cream. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.

Put the remaining 200g butter and both chocolates in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water), stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove from the heat and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric hand whisk), beat together the remaining 280g sugar and the eggs until light and thick (about 10 minutes).

Gently fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture along with the remaining 100ml reduced Guinness and ½ tsp sea salt, then sieve in the flour and cocoa powder. Fold together until well combined. Pour ½ the batter into the lined tin, drizzle over ½ the caramel, then pour over the remaining batter, reserving the remaining caramel. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the top is set with a papery texture. The brownies are ready when a knife inserted into the centre has moist crumbs (but no raw batter) when removed. Cool in the tin before cutting into 16 squares. Drizzle over the remaining caramel and sprinkle with a few sea salt flakes, if liked.