Nothing beats a classic, rich, fudgey brownie - the perfect party pleaser/indulgent dessert/comfort food on those not-so-bright days. The best thing about them? They can be made and loaded with any of your favourite chocolates - for an even more Christmassy twist use Terry's chocolate orange or even a quality street bar. If you like a richer brownie then use more dark chocolate in the mixture and if you like a bite in your brownie then add chopped nuts.
Tips:
For that shiny, crinkly top you'll want to whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy - this takes abut 2-3 minutes with a whisk.
These will slice more easily (and be even fudgier) if you leave cool in the tin and put in the fridge for an hour or two, or overnight. The brownies will store in an airtight container for a few days at room temperature or about a week in the fridge.
I've attached a video at the bottom of the page to demonstrate how to slice and decorate these brownies.
Recipe
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 25-30 minutes
Makes: 10-12 brownies
Ingredients
For the brownie:
125g Butter
50g Milk Chocolate
50g Dark Chocolate
2 Eggs
250g Caster Sugar
85g Plain Flour
2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
100g Chocolate of choice, chopped
For the decoration:
50g Melted White Chocolate
10-12 Whispa bites
Smarties & silver balls/ sprinkles
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a square tin (approx. 20x20cm) with butter and baking parchment.
Melt the butter with the milk chocolate and the dark chocolate (either in the microwave in 20s intervals or in a bowl over hot water) and allow to cool.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
Add the butter/chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and fold in until it is almost completely combined.
Chop the other chocolate (milk/white or whatever chocolate using) into chunks and fold into the mixture until everything is combined (no flour should be visible).
Pour the mixture into the tin and spread until even. Bake for 25-30 minutes (25 if you want fudgier).
Allow cool in the tin and set in the fridge for 1-2 hours or overnight. The brownies need to be cold for the white chocolate to set quickly.
Slice the brownies in half, then cut 5 full triangles per half as shown in the video below. You can make two extra Christmas trees by sandwiching the 4 cutoffs together with the melted white chocolate - or just eat them as you go!
Melt the white chocolate and put into a piping bag (if you don't have one you can use a spoon for this) and snip a small hole at the end. Make the stump by piping/ spooning a small amount of chocolate on to the bottom of each tree and attaching a whispa bite.
Pipe white chocolate zig zags across each tree/ drizzle using the back of a spoon. Add silver balls or sprinkles as 'baubles' and attach a smartie (or anything else), again using the white chocolate, for the star on top.
Enjoy!
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