This recipe for traditional brownies has been taken from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.
I absolutely adore this cookbook! It has recipes that are easy to follow and lead to show stopping results! The Traditional Brownies are one of my favourites, they taste so rich and chocolatey and always leave you wanting more...
What you will need:
- 200g dark chocolate (I use two large bars of Green and Blacks 70% Dark Chocolate)
- 175g unsalted butter (I often just use whatever butter I have in and have found that Lurpak slightly salted, and other similar butters work just fine)
- 325g caster sugar
- 130g plain flour
- 3 eggs (I always use free range organic eggs)
- icing sugar to decorate
- Baking tray greased and lined (my baking tray measures 22cm x 27cm x 4cm, I find that a tin this size makes 12 large or 16 smaller brownies)
- Before I begin any bake I like to make sure I have everything I will need to hand, so all my ingredients are measured out, plenty of utensils at easy reach and my baking tray greased with butter and then lined with greaseproof paper.
- Preheat your oven to 170 degrees C.
- Fill a large pan with water from a boiled kettle around 4cm deep and leave over a small heat. In a glass bowl or jug (smaller in size than your pan) put the butter and chocolate in, and then place this jug in the pan. Constantly stir the mixture until all the chocolate and butter has melted.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add the chocolatey mixture to the caster sugar and stir well until incorporated. Then add the flour, mixing well. And finally add the eggs. Stir well until you are left with a thick smooth mixture.
- Once you've finished prepping your brownie mix, pour it into your baking tray and pop it in the oven for 30-35 mins (I always keep an eye on my brownies checking them every 15 mins), as soon as they are slightly flaky on the top but soft in the middle take them out the oven and leave to cool.
- Once completely cool decorate with icing sugar. I cut out small windmill shapes and placed them on top of the brownies to leave a silhouette once they have been dusted with icing sugar. You could use any shape, letter or number if someone's birthday, I find it adds a nice personal touch and really adds to the homemade charm.
The end result...
Review:
This recipe is faultless! Everytime I've baked these brownies they have turned out perfect, they appear to be failsafe!
Although at first it may seem odd to melt the chocolate and butter in a pan it is lot safer than melting it in a microwave... that can always lead to over cooking the chocolate, leaving a grainy substance when what you are looking for here is smooth and silky chocolate.
The brownies once made are chewy, chocolately, rich and dense... exactly what should be of a brownie. I can see why they are so popular, and they are a perfect addition to any afternoon tea or party table.
Overall they take about an hour and a half to make, including cooking, cooling and decorating time, however to prep it only takes about 15-20 minutes, and that is using a good old fashioned wooden spoon for mixing, I imagine if you use an electric handheld or standing mixer this time could reduced even further.
For ease of bake, and ending result, I give this bake :
5 Wooden Spoons!
Get baking!
Love
The Pink Windmill Baker
xx
