I have never cooked or even liked chocolate brownies in the past but this weeks challenge is in honour of my uncle. My uncle was an incredible man in the kitchen and he was always an inspiration in regards to food. My mum is another excellent home cook however I didn’t achieve the generic talent, yet I took home economics (cookery) as a subject at school. Let’s be clear about this, I’m not a disaster nevertheless I’m so much better being creative in other ways.
I could talk for hours with my uncle about food & cooking techniques and it wasn’t that long ago we were pondering over his cookery book collection. Just last year he sent a couple of cookery books, one being brownies one of his favourite cakes. When starting this weekly challenge I did wonder if I could be converted to love this cake too. I have to be honest it doesn’t float my boat at all, I’ve never been a huge fan of chocolate. I would rather a lemon flavour cake any day, so maybe I should attempt a lemon brownie next time.
Here is the recipe for you brownie lovers from a British cookbook (inside the book my uncle has made some changes to the recipe).
Very Rich Brownies
200g Dark chocolate
100g Unsalted butter, softened
250g Light muscovado sugar
4 Large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract
60g Plain flour
60g Unsweetened coco powder
Dark chocolate shavings to decorate
Whipped cream, to serve (optional)
A 23cm square brownie tin
Makes 20
Changes to the recipe by uncle T.
1/2 Teaspoon of baking powder to flour
Reduced 60g cocoa powder to 40g
Add 100g Belgian chocolate chips to the mixture before going into the tin
Preheat the oven to 180c ( 350F) Gas 4
Break up the chocolate and put it in a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of steaming water and gently melt the chocolate stirring frequently. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool until needed.
Put the side butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and use either a wooden spoon or a hand-held electric mixer to beat until fluffy. Gradually beat in the egged then add the vanilla extract. Next beat in the melted chocolate. When thoroughly combined sift the flour and cocoa directly onto the mixture and stir in. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin, spread evenly and level the surface.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until almost firm to the touch. Remove the tin from the oven.
Leave to cool in the tin before removing, cutting into 20 pieces and sprinkling with chocolate shavings. Serve with whipped cream.
Well I attempted the recipe yesterday and I soon realized that I was quiet skillful in the kitchen when weighing, measuring and mixing ingredients. Now here comes the disaster, the brownie tasted lovely, however out of the baking pan it did resemble a mole hill on a plate. I can just see my uncle laughing at me, my defence is “it was a British recipe that should have been cooked in a British cooker(stove)”. I won’t give up uncle T, I will attempt them again someday. Oh my, I will have to work on my baking skills. Home Baking 1 – Kat 0
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