celebration brownies

good evening bakers,

how are your january's going? it's one of those weird months that seems to be flying by and dragging at the same time - last week in particular seemed to go on forever but then how is it already a weekend?! one thing i have been particularly proud of this month is my commitment to my new healthy living food/exercise routine which i started at the end of last year; but, have no fear, the baked goods are here to stay! so here is an indulgent chocolate number for you...

this arose as we emerged from the post christmas and new year haze to find a large supply of chocolate selection boxes dotted around our house. as we were making slow progress on consuming them, i decided to take action and mix things up. i remembered reading a recipe in the green & black's chocolate recipes book a while back titled 'celebration brownies'. the premise is extremely simple but also completely ingenious, as is often the way!

to take your brownies to the next level you bake a layer of mini chocolates into them.

so whip up your favourite brownie mixture (i used a simpler version to my normal one, which usually involves a lot of whisking which would probably be undone by adding chocolates).

 i used dark chocolate to counter the sweetness of the celebrations

 

 pure calories - so good! 

 adding the sugar to the chocolate mix

 eggs are whisked and added

somewhat odd looking, but go with it

when your mixture is ready to go, it's on to the fun part - the chocolates!

pour half of the mixture into the baking tray:

then arrange the chocolates on top - do try and be methodical so that each brownie will have a chocolate in it:

 i left certain chocolates out, mainly bounty's because i am not a fan, but also twix's because i wasn't sure i'd want the biscuit part in my brownie

all of the chocolate

then pour the remaining mixture over the top, try to make sure all of the chocolates are submerged, otherwise they will catch in the oven:

then it's in to the oven to bake. i do struggle a bit with brownies and knowing how gooey to go, you want that beautiful texture but not raw cake! my mixture was very wobbly in the middle but the edges cooked very quickly so these slices were more cakey but the middle was SO good. 

 

 

they certainly added a novel dimension to a standard brownie and anything that increases chocolate intake is definitely a good thing!

this weekend i'm planning on whipping up a banana and rolo cake and perhaps something new too. until then, have a good week bakers.

love,

nen

x

brownies & brilliant news!

first and foremost - apologies for the silence, it has been a crazy few days! as this title suggests i've got some really good news, but let us begin with the brownies. tuesday afternoon i got on the train back home and attended a job registration wednesday (fingers crossed for that!). following the interview i went to sainsburys and raided the chocolate and baking departments in order to bake some of my famous brownies. (to the extent that one message in my birthday card this year simply read, "bake more brownies"!). unfortunately because i was on a tight time schedule i had to take them back on the train whilst they were still warm so they did end up a bit crumbled, however they still tasted as good as usual. although i hate to give away the secret for my primary form of bribery in life, here is the recipe i use: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1223/bestever-brownies. i think the trick is being really gentle when folding the ingredients together, which is very therapeutic but not good if you are in a hurry! but i did have time to take a few photos along the way (left my camera at uni so they are phone quality, sorry).

these two show the chocolate and butter being melted together over a saucepan of hot water (known as a bain-marie). i love how indulgent this looks!

this shows the brownie mixture after it has all been folded together - it is some of the best raw cake mix ever!

so now onto the main purpose of these brownies: bribery! as i mentioned a new society is being started at university - BakeSoc! the elections were friday and i used these as leverage to get my friends to come along and vote (thanks again guys!). it seemed to pay off as i won! so i am now events co-ordinator for BakeSoc - i am so excited and we're just starting to throw around ideas for freshers week. i cannot wait to see this thing to take off! i passed around the brownies to the other people attending the election and they seemed to enjoy them to. the leftovers i took to saturday's great british pre-lash (we're such a classy group of students!). they are pictured below on the table (ahem, ironing board) with some of the other nibbles. i received great (and slightly drunken) reviews for them - it is so great to hear people appreciate your baking! and they were all gone by the end of the night so i can't ask for better than that!

 well i think that brings you up to date, i'm off to fill in countless more job forms (yay).

love,
nen
x