daddy's day chocolate brownies

chris is away on a stag weekend (camping in the countryside - meant to be fairly civilised...) and is only due back tomorrow evening, so all our father's day celebrations will need to be crammed into the short space of time between his return and lola's bedtime.

so me and lola are preparing by making chocolate brownies

i have taken the recipe from a beautiful little book i have called edible gifts by kay fairfax, which i am alarmed to see costs £34.95 on amazon - mine cost £8.99!!! it is full of inspirational homemade gift ideas for foodies and beautiful photography to complement it.

desribed in the introduction as 'a chocoholic's dream come true' and knowing what a sucker chris is for a proper rich, gooey brownie, how could i resist?! i didn't have the size tin specified so went for the closest i had, a bit shorter and deeper, and added 5 mins to the recommended cooking time.

ingredients

brownies

170g butter

3 free range eggs

325g golden caster sugar

75g cocoa powder, sifted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

75g plain flour, sifted

250g dark chocolate drops, or finely chopped if using a bar

150g nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)

( i only had 50g of walnuts so they has to suffice)

chocolate cream

100ml double cream

125g dark chocolate drops, or finely chopped if using a bar

cake tin, 28 x 18 x 1 cm, lined with baking parchment extending 5cm beyond the long ends.

method

1. melt the butter gently in a small saucepan

2. put the eggs in a bowl, whisk lightly, then whisk in the sugar. stir in the melted butter, cocoa and vanilla. using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the flour, stir through the chocolate and the nuts if you are using them.

3. pour into the prepared cake tin and bake in a preheated oven (160c) for 25-30 mins until just firm in the centre and still moist at the bottom.

do not overcook the brownies, they are not meant to have the consistency of a cake and should be moist and gooey in the middle. they will dry out as they cool.

4. remove from the oven and let stand, still in the tin, on a wire rack, until completely cool.

5. using the overhanging paper, carefully lift the brownies out of the tin onto a flat board and peel off the paper. dust with cocoa powder or cover with chocolate cream. cut into squares.

chocolate cream

1. put the cream in a saucepan and heat until; just simmering. add the chocolate and stir til smooth and glossy*. cool in the fridge for about an hour til firm enough to spread over the brownies.

* we managed to overheat the cream a bit and as a result the sauce went a bit grainy - we added about 25g of butter and 25ml cold double cream and gave it a good beat and it came back to a lovely shiny gloss.

we are trying to resist eating them until tomorrow - so i'll let you know the verdict then - but they certainly look good - and with that amount of butter, sugar and dark chocolate i don't see how they can fail to taste pretty spectacular!

we didn't manage to resist - we had to check it after all...

the flavour is glorious, and the texture, certainly at the edges, is perfect. the middle is currently a bit too gooey ( maybe another 5 minutes more would have helped in my deeper tin) but it is a lovely, fondanty experience, the flour is cooked - it just requires a spoon to eat it. i think it will probably have dried out enough by tomorrow to serve in the traditional brownie style!