Brownie Recipe

I'm here! I'm in the mood to blog, I think.

But first things first.

For dear SARAH!! Courtesy of Nigella Lawson (my favourite cookbook author - I have all 6 of her recipe books)

Snow-flecked brownies

375g unsalted butter
375g best quality dark chocolate
6 eggs
350g caster sugar
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
225g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
250g white chocolate buttons, preferably Montgomery Moore, or good white chocolate, chopped
approx. 2 teaspoons icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 or 180 degrees celsius. Line the sides and base of a 33 x 23 x 5.5cm baking tin with foil or baking parchment.

Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan over a low heat.

In a bowl or large measuring jug, beat the eggs together with caster sugar and vanilla extract.

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little, the add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. Fold in the flour and salt. Then stir in the white chocolate buttons or chopped white chocolate. Beat to combine then scrape and pour the brownie mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake for about 25 minutes. You can see when the brownies are ready because the top dries to a slightly paler brown speckle, while the middle remains dark, dense and gooey. Even with such a big batch you do need to keep checking on it: the difference between gungey brownies and dry ones is only a few minutes. Remember, too, that they will continue to cook as they cool.

To serve, cut into squares while still warm and pile up onto a large plate, sprinkling with icing sugar pushed with a teaspoon through a small sieve, and dotting with birthday candles as you go. Set alight and enjoy the festive scene.

* Personal note: You can half this to make a smaller batch. And you have to second guess the timing, for me, even when I put the brownies in ten more minutes, they still end up too gooey for my taste. So you’ve got to keep checking and cutting into the centre to check if it’s baked just right. And you can skip the icing sugar. :)