Best Ever Brownies

The last time I made these, I was really impatient waiting for it to cool completely and so started cutting it up while it was still a bit warm. BIG mistake! The lovely gooey centre hadn’t set properly and so it just crumbled and went all mushy.  This time, I was determined to wait until it was totally cooled, which I just about managed :)

I got the original recipe here http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1223/bestever-brownies which used both milk and white chocolate but I didn’t have any white chocolate so just used double the amount of milk chocolate.  The recipe also calls for a square tin but I used a circular cake tin and it turned out fine.  You could also get away with using a bit less sugar (about 240g instead of 275g) if you wanted to.

I managed to get about 30 evenish pieces (lost track of counting as I had a couple while cutting :P) but you could get more/less depending on how big or small you want your pieces to be.  They are very chocolately and fudgy, and more so, addictive! The perfect treat for a chocolate craving :)

Ingredients:

185g unsalted butter

185g best dark chocolate

85g plain flour

40g cocoa powder

100g milk chocolate, roughly chopped

3 large eggs

275g golden caster sugar

Method:

- melt the butter and dark chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan with hot water, then leave the mixture to cool to room temperature

- heat the oven to 180C and butter a cake tin

- tip the flour and cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl

- break the eggs into a bowl, tip in the sugar, and whisk until they look pale, thick and creamy, like a milk shake, and about double its original volume

- pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a wooden spoon using a figure of 8, until the mixture is a mottled dark brown colour

- hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly

- gently fold in this powder using the figure of 8 (the mixture will look dry and dusty at first, but it will end up looking gungy and fudgy) and then finally stir in the milk chocolate chunks

- pour the mixture into the prepared tin, gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it

- cook for 25 minutes before opening the oven and gently shaking the tin

- if the brownie wobbles in the middle, it’s not quite done, so slide it back in and bake for another 5 minutes until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin

- leave the whole thing in the tin until completely cold before taking out of the tin and cutting up

Strawberry and Chocolate Muffins

This is the first time I’ve baked in months because of revision and exams so it’s nice to be back in the kitchen again!  My New Year's resolution was to start a baking blog so here's hoping I get the chance to update it regularly.  I’ve made these muffins before with raspberries and white chocolate, so I thought I would try them with strawberries and milk chocolate this time as I had strawberries that needed using up.  They’re delicious both warm when the chocolate is slightly melted or when cooled when the chocolate is harder. Win Win! :) 

My strawberries were quite big so I got about 8-12 smallish chunks from each one, and I just roughly quartered each chocolate square.  The mixture will be quite thick and gloopy and just drop off the spoon in a big blob, but thats the way it should be.

The mixture makes 12 muffins, and you can adjust the amount/type of chocolate/fruit you use, or even half the recipe.  They do keep for a good few days in an airtight container, though they never really last that long in my flat with my boyfriend scoffing them after breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Ingredients:

250g self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

200g strawberries, cut into small chunks

200g bar milk chocolate, cut into small chunks

100g golden caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

150ml pot natural yoghurt

100g butter, melted

Method:

- preheat the oven to 200C

- line a 12-hole muffin tin with some muffin cases

- sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl, then stir in the berries, chocolate and sugar

- add the beaten eggs, yoghurt and butter, and stir to combine (it doesn’t matter if the mixture looks a bit lumpy, it’s more important not to overmix or the muffins will turn out tough)

- fill the cases and bake for 20-25 mins until risen and golden brown and then transfer to a rack to cool