Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

First of all, a (belated) Selamat Hari Raya to all muslim readers. It's been a busy few days, so I haven't had the time to write a post. But never mind, here's one, a bit late. =)

These brownies are from the same book I've used for the Chocolate Honeycomb Brownies. They are described as having a "flaky, uneven surface and a rich chocolate centre". Sounds good! For best results, you are advised to use the best chocolate and cocoa powder you can, so I finally used the chocolate I've brought back from the UK last time, haha. So, here we go!


What you need:
1/3 cup (40g) plain flour
1/2 cup (60g) dark cocoa powder
2 cups (500g) sugar
1 cup (130g) chopped pecans or pistachios - omitted
250g dark chocolate
250g butter
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
4 eggs, lightly beaten

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Brush a 20x30 cm (8x12 inch) cake tin with melted butter or oil. We used a 10-inch square tin. Line the base with baking paper, extending over 2 sides.
2. Sift the flour and cocoa into a large bowl and combine with the sugar and nuts. Mix thoroughly and make a well in the centre.
3. Use a large sharp knife to chop the chocolate into small pieces. Add the chocolate pieces to the dry ingredients.
4. Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat or in the microwave, which is what we did. Add it to the dry ingredients, with the vanilla and eggs. Stir until the ingredients are well combined.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, smooth the surface and bake for 40-45 minutes. The mixture will still be a bit soft inside. Set side for up to 2 hours before cutting, or refrigerate if you prefer. When set, cut into pieces.

This is still quite an easy recipe, no "specialist" equipment required, like an electric mixer etc. It just has a few extra steps, is all. Unfortunately, at the time, we were still baking something else in the oven so this had to go in the fridge for awhile before we could bake it. I think that's most likely why the surface is not quite as flaky as I expected, but oh well, never mind.

Because this tasted just awesome! Super fudgy, with a really crunchy crust. You know how the brownie edges are usually the best? Well, imagine the texture of the brownie edge all ove the top of your brownie. Mmmmmm! Because we used very dark chocolate, it wasn't toothachingly sweet either, despite the 2 cups of sugar in there. =P

Because we made these during puasa (then after that, it was raya with its abundance of sweet foods) we didn't really get a chance to have these properly. So they were stowed away in the fridge for almost a week. And I have to say. I believe they got even better with the keeping! The crust is still super crunchy. The brownies are even more fudgy, almost like really really thick chocolate mousse, or ice cream even. So good! I do think the few extra steps are worth it. =)

Quote of the day: Will sell boyfriend for CHOCOLATE - all sales final no refunds no exchanges