Hello hungry peoples,

Today we are going to explore one of life’s joys; the brownie. It turns out that what makes a perfect brownie differs widely according to taste and seems to be somewhat controversial. The main divide seems to be do you like your brownie dense and fudgey or cakey and crumbly. I fall firmly into the dense and fudgey category. If I want cakey I’ll make a cake thank you very much.

So what do I want from a brownie? I want a lovely brittle crust on top and a moist fudgey centre for contrast. For extra richness I use a combination of cooking chocolate and cocoa. I also want it cooked through. I hate eating raw cake mix. I also don’t want flat brownies. Since they are so rich you want some lightness and airiness in there (a total contradiction I know). The best way to achieve this is too get a lot of air into your batter. Ideally it will have an almost mousse like composition. This forms the base of my brownies and then I add different flavours towards the end, depending on what kind of brownie I want. Today we are going to make chocolate mint brownies using Cadbury Mint Bubble Chocolate. You can substitute this for any kind of chocolate. If you like run and raisin, go for it. Kit Kat brownies, yes please! Go crazy man. Normally I would insist on nuts in my brownies but today I will make a special exception. Let the minteness shine through!

Ingredients

• 200g butter
• 200g cooking chocolate (milk or dark)
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 100g Cadbury “Bubbly” chocolate (or any mint flavoured chocolate you can get your hands on)

Tools: brownie pan

Cooking Directions

1. Take your eggs out of the fridge and let them sit and get to room temperature. I know this is hassles but you do this as it make the mixture much fluffier when you beat the eggs with sugar. The general rule is to do this for any baked good.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. I generally don’t use fan forced as it can dry your cakes out.
3. Coat your brownie pan with butter and line with lots of baking paper. It is definitely a good idea to give yourself some extra on the sides. This allows you to use the baking paper as handles to pull the brownies out. I had serious trouble getting my brownies to cook in the middle using cake pans. A brownie tin is not very high, spreading the mixture out and cooking it nice and evenly. Worth the investment if you like your brownies.
4. In regards to cooking chocolate, the type depends on how rich you want the brownies. I generally go with dark for a rich brownie base. Put 200g of cooking chocolate and butter into a microwave proof bowl and melt. This usually takes about 1 minute 30. Make sure you stir it around a bit throughout. This will make it melt quicker and start to incorporate. Once everything has melted set it aside and let it cool to room temperature.
5. Combine your three eggs and 1 cup caster sugar. Whip them together on the highest mixer speed for about 4 minutes. You want them really fluffy. Almost double in volume. This make a moussey like base for your brownies.
6. Fold in cooled chocolate mixture.
7. Combine the flour and cocoa in a bowl and mix with a fork to get rid of any large chunks. Add them to the mixture and fold in a little bit. The more you mix the flour in, the more gluten you develop and you will end up with a tough brownie. Just roughly fold the mixture. It will still look dusty and fairly unmixed.
8. Now we add the extra mintey chocolate flavour. Roughly break up the 100 g mint “Bubbly” chocolate and add to mixture. This will be about 2/3 a block of chocolate. For those of you not in Australia, Cadbury’s is a quintessential Australian chocolate brand. Kinda like Hershey’s in America, but a million times tastier. If you get the chance you should get some in your belly.
9. Add the mixture to your baking pan, spreading it with a spatula. Put in the oven for about 30 minutes but check at the 25 minute mark. If it is still wobbly in the middle it needs a bit longer. You don’t want to overcook your brownies. You will lose all the moist fudgey goodness. So sad! Your brownies should have a lovely crust on top and will be coming away from the sides slightly.
10. Let the brownies cool completely before you remove them from the pan. The cooling process is important. It lets the brownies settle and become fudgier, reducing cracking when you move it. That’s it, your done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Difficulty: Medium