This MUST be one of the more expensive things I’ve made at uni…as mentioned before in the millionaire’s shortbread post, this is one to split between friends if you can. However, it is made a bit cheaper if you already have the ingredients, or are going to use them again.
These were deliciously rich and chocolatey – we slightly under-baked them so that they would be gooey, but ensured they had a crisp top. Perfection. We used a BBC Good Food recipe.
Ingredients:
- 185g salted butter, cut into small cubes
- 185g best dark chocolate (really worth splashing out, Green and Blacks ideal)
- 85g plain flour
- 40g cocoa powder
- 100g dark/milk chocolate (again the best you can get), chopped into large-ish chunks
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 275g golden caster sugar
Method:
- Place the butter and 185g of best chocolate into a heatproof bowl.
- Using the bain marie method, melt the chocolate. This requires placing the bowl over another bowl of boiled water (but not touching the water). Stir until both have melted and mixed together smoothly.
- When fully melted, remove the bowl and leave to cool.
- Set the oven to 180°C. Chop the 100g of chocolate on a board.
- Whisk together the eggs and sugar – preferably with an electric mixer, or really well by hand. It should look thick and creamy, and this might take a while.
- Pour the melted chocolate into this mixture, and fold together with a spatula. Try not to knock out the air, so be gently, but ensure they are mixed well.
- Mix in the flour and cocoa powder, until they are well mixed.
- Now stir in the chunks of chocolate.
- Pour the mixture into a tin, preferably lined with greaseproof paper, to make it easier to remove. Wiggle the tin carefully to spread the mixture in an even layer.
- Put in the oven for around 25mins. Check it – it might take a little longer, but you don’t want to over bake it as it will become dry. You will know it is ready when a crisp, papery film appears on the top, and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. If you put a cocktail stick in, don’t worry if it comes out unclean, as it will set.
- When completely cooled, remove from the tin, and probably leave to cool a little longer. Then cut into pieces as big as you wish.
According to BBC Good Food, these keep in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks (not that they’ll last!), and can be frozen easily.
Costs: from Tesco, £11.65, for all the raw ingredients. Hopefully will make many more brownie batches than just this!
The Night-Time Scribbler 