Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

How can anyone not like chocolate brownies is beyond my understanding. Rich, fudgy and decadent, the ultimate comfort food when done right. Since most of us seem to be craving exactly that during lockdown, I thought I’d share a new, improved recipe for chocolate brownies in the hope it’ll brighten up your day. After all half of the country is either baking or gardening or both at the moment!😊

There are literally thousands of “best ever brownie” recipes on the internet. After trying quite a few each time I’d found myself coming to the same conclusion – too sweet and too cakey. Who wants a cakey brownie!? The dry cakey texture defeats the point of a good brownie in my opinion; you may as well ermmm…make a cake instead! Now, straight to the point – in order to magic out a fudgy brownie there are a few important factors to bear in mind:

• Use a good quality dark chocolate, 65% -70% cocoa mass and a good quality cocoa powder. The latter should be Dutch processed which is darker and less bitter than natural cocoa. You will find it in all supermarkets, lockdown allowing, and in my experience with most popular brands the darker the better.
• For the lovely, shiny, crinkled crust on top and the gooey texture inside remember the following:

1. Beat A LOT of air into your eggs and sugar.
2. Don’t overmix your batter, you will knock out the air you just incorporated.
3. Don’t bake it for longer than 25-30 minutes.

If you prefer a sweeter, even more chocolatey and gooey flavour add some milk chocolate cut into small chunks. I personally leave it out and serve my brownies with some sour berries such as redcurrants to offset the sweetness but it’s a matter of taste. (I know, I’m one fussy chocoholic, it’s genetic!) A bit of salt will enhance the sweetness in chocolate. Similarly to milk chocolate, vanilla is also optional.

That’s all you need to know. The rest is a piece of cake, or should I say, a piece of brownie!

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

Makes one tin about 23 x 23 cm/9 x 9 inches

• 200g dark chocolate, 65% -70% cocoa mass, broken up
• 100g milk chocolate, min 30% cocoa mass, cut into small chunks (optional)
• 200g unsalted butter, roughly diced up
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 medium or large eggs
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 50g good quality cocoa powder
• 60g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Method

1. Grease the baking tin and line it with baking paper. Put the butter and dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan with simmering water. (Make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.) Melt on a low heat stirring occasionally until the chocolate and the butter are combined and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Add salt, stir and set aside to cool.
2. While the butter/chocolate mixture is cooling down, sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a separate bowl.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan), gas mark 4. Break the eggs into another bowl, tip in the sugar and beat with an electric mixer on a medium speed until the mixture turns pale, fluffy and creamy. The more air you incorporate at this stage, the softer and more fudgy the texture and the better and more shiny the crust; 6-7 minutes is about right.
4. With a spatula gently fold in the flour and cocoa. Don’t overmix, you don’t want to knock out the air you just created – only until you see the last bits of flour disappearing, the colour may not be evenly brown at this point.
5. Gently pour in the cooled chocolate and butter mixture, add the vanilla essence and milk chocolate chunks, if using, and again mix carefully and resist overmixing. Lick the batter off the whisk instead!
6. Pour the mixture into the baking tray, smooth it over with a spatula and bake for 25, maximum 30 minutes. When baked, the top of the brownie should be crusted over and cracked and the middle slightly wobbly. The seemingly unbaked middle makes for the fudgy centre so it’s important not to bake your brownie for longer. As it’s very delicate when hot, cool for about 15-20 minutes before carefully removing from the tin. It’ll sink back a bit while cooling thus creating the perfectly dense and fudgy texture. Cut into squares and enjoy every bite.

Spread the love if you enjoyed this recipe – give me a like, leave a comment or both. Tag me on Facebook @riseandshinebaking or Instagram @riseandshine_baking and don’t forget to use hashtag #bakewithriseandshine. Thank you and happy baking!