Some of my best baking recipes are the ones I collect from friends at work. Imagine when you expect just another day in the office, someone brings their freshly baked goods. For no particular reason but for sharing and indulging. As I mentioned before on definitely more than one occasion I do not have a particularly sweet tooth but I cannot resist a homemade carrot cake or banana bread, chocolate cookies or shortbread biscuits. You only get a small bite to taste, as this is the joy of sharing in the office, so I always ask for the recipe to try to recreate that at home. This brownie was referred to as “to die for” and for a very good reason. It is divine. When Alice brought it into the office and sent the usual “please share” email she mentioned she had some leftover chocolate that she used to make the brownie. Well, having a leftover chocolate is pretty unusual not to say unheard of, but this year we had a real abundance of chocolate eggs and none guests due to the social distancing and I was determined to keep some just for this very recipe.
Brownies
185 g unsalted butter
185 g best quality dark chocolate
85 g plain flour
40 g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
50 g white chocolate
50 g milk chocolate
50 g nuts (optional)
3 large eggs
275 g golden caster sugar
Cut the butter into small cubes and the dark chocolate into small pieces and tip into the medium size metal bowl.
Gently melt the butter and chocolate over a water bath. Stir occasionally, but make sure that no water gets into your mixture. Once combined remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan/ gas mark 4.
Grease a square 20 cm x 20 cm or a rectangular 25 cm x 15 cm baking tin and line with baking paper.
Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a medium bowl to get rid of any lumps.
Chop the white and milk chocolate into small chunks. Finely chop the nuts if you are using them.
In a large bowl mix the eggs and the golden sugar. Beat them with electric mixer on the maximum speed until thick, creamy and pale. It might take a good few minutes but keep whisking until the mixture has doubled its volume and has the consistency of a milk shake.
Slowly fold the cooled chocolate and butter mixture into the eggy mousse. Use a spatula to combine by going under and over as if you were trying to draw number eight. Be very gentle as you want to keep the mixture airy but keep moving until it is fully combined and dark brown in colour.
Using the sieve dust the chocolatey mixture with the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder and cacao. Make sure to cover the top evenly, then gently fold those in using the same figure of eight action as before. Stop just when your mixture gets fudgy and gooey. Make sure not to overmix.
Finally, stir in the white and milk chocolate chunks and chopped nuts if you are adding any.
Slowly pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Make sure you fill the corners of the tin and gently level the mixture with the spatula.
Put in the oven for 25 mins. After that time check the brownie. The top should be shiny and have a papery crust and the middle should not wobble. If it does, put it back in the over for 5 more minutes. Once ready, take it out of the oven and leave to cool down completely. Then carefully remove from the tin and cut into squares. The brownie is even more delicious the next day so if you can resist the temptation leave some for later and you will not regret it.
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