Tuesday 13 October 2009

Tuesday brownie recipe


Whisper it, but my favourite home bake brownies have long been those Betty Crocker ones that you make from a box, because I have never been able to find a recipe that matches their fudginess.

On Saturday I made Nigel Slater's brownies to take to a party, and they disappeared within about ten minutes, but though I have made them before, and they always go down fantastically, I personally find them a bit too dark and chocolatey (M disagrees, but he comes from the school of thought that nothing can ever be too dark and chocolatey).

On Sunday, with the sky grey and a run looking less and less appealing, I decided to try another recipe to take to work on Monday, one that I had never used before, that from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. I was very pleased with the result. Dry on top and squidgy in the centre, these are sweet and chewy without the bitter, deep, dark chocolate taste that I am not a big fan of unless it is tempered by a drizzle of cream. It was also one of the simplest recipes for brownies I have ever found (though Nigella's is also pretty straightforward) and doesn't use tons and tons of eggs and dark chocolate, which can end up getting a bit expensive.

The recipe is here for those of you who haven't got the book (link above for the Nigel Slater one if darker brownies are more your style):

200g dark chocolate
175g unsalted butter
3 large eggs
325g caster sugar
130g plain flour
a 33 x 23 x 5cm baking tray lined with greaseproof paper (not sure mine was of these dimensions exactly as I just have a rectangular brownie tray I use whatever the recipe, so don't worry too much if you don't have one this size!)


1. Preheat oven to 170°C/325°F (Gas 3).
2. Break up the chocolate and place the chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water without letting the base of the bowl touch the water. Leave until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat. Add the sugar and stir until well incorporated. Add the flour and stir until well incorporated. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl then finally stir in the eggs to the chocolate mixture and mix until thick and smooth.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake in preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until flaky on the top but still soft in the centre. Be careful not to overcook otherwise the edges will become hard and crunchy. Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares (or don't, and dive in whilst they are still slightly warm and eat with vanilla ice cream on a Sunday night whilst watching Mad Men...!).

8 comments:

  1. guess what I'm now doing tomorrow...:)
    I though am also from the school of thought that nothing can ever be too dark or chocolatey so I may look and mr slaters too.

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  2. i just bought the hummingbird book and after reading this i'm very excited about making the brownies! i normally use the tessa kiros recipe from 'apples for jam'. they are yummmmy! x

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  3. yes, nothing can be too dark and chocolate-y, it's the truth. but, hey, a good brownie is a good brownie. and these certainly look goooood.

    i am trying to eat less cake due to a summer heavy with baked goods and ice cream (not always together) but this recipe might just break my will..

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  4. Ooh thanks for the recipe, the perfect brownie recipe is so hard to find!

    *whispers* I use the Betty Crocker mix too! It's the only cake mix I'll ever use, but I love it!

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  5. OOOOOoo, how yummy! Must be good if they disappeared within 10 minutes.

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  6. Oooh, I want that cookbook so badly!

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  7. Oh thank you! I've been pining for brownies and was looking for a good recipe, I'll try these out!

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  8. thank you for this, i've just ordered the cookbook on the basis of how good these turned out! it's so hard to find a good browning recipe, with the turn out usually being heavy cake or overly squidgy, these are perfect. also like that they don't have nuts in but don't need them, i usually make mine without because my friends don't like nuts - though i do - and i didn't miss the crunch.

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