Brownie, Chocolate, Blondie...

Slightly fudgy without going over the top into sludgy, still holding their shape, filled with a rich chocolate flavour. Baked with nuts, or not, these are my nemisis . . . these are the ones I find myself waking up and thinking about at two o'clock in the morning...




*Fudge Walnut Brownies*
Makes 24 squares

I wish I had a pound for every time I have made brownies in my life and for every new brownie recipe I have tried! I’d be a rich woman! This is my old standard that I return to every time. Moist and delicious with full on chocolate flavour, these are everything a good brownie should be! You can leave the nuts out if you wish, or you can add chocolate chips instead. They then become double chocolate fudge brownies!

1 cup butter
1 cup plain flour
4 ounces good quality bitter chocolate
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 TBS vanilla essence (YES 1TBS)
Pinch salt
½ cup walnut halves, broken into pieces

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Grease and flour the bottom of an 8 inch square glass baking dish. Tap out any extra flour.

Melt the butter along with the chocolate over low heat in a large pot. Allow to cool, then stir in the sugar, eggs (one at a time) vanilla, flour and salt, mixing with a wooden spoon and being careful not to over mix, no more than 50 strokes!

Pour batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out a little wet if you want fudgy brownies. Bake until it comes out cleaner if you want cake type brownies, about 40 to 45 minutes for the fudgy ones. Let cool a bit before cutting into squares.

AND, just because I can't do ANYTHING half way, here is my other favourite, one of the blondie versions, full of "caramel-like" fudgy goodness. In this case, Blondes definitely do have more fun!




*Butterscotch Blondies*
Makes 12

These bars are lovely and chewy and full of wonderful butterscotch flavour. I try to use the best milk chocolate possible and that is Green and Black’s organic (in my opinion). They small fantastic when baking and the taste, well, it’s out of this world! Bet you can’t eat just one, which also makes them very dangerous to have around!


140g butter, plus more to grease the pan
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Pinch salt
350g light muscovado sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla essence
250g self rising flour
100g milk chocolate, cut into big chunks
100g macadamia nuts or pecan nuts, coarsely chopped
Icing sugar to dust over the tops when done

Pre-heat the oven to 160*C/350*F. Butter a shallow pan, about 20 X 21 cm in size and set aside.

Melt the butter in a small bowl and set aside to cool. In the meantime chop up your chocolate.
Beat the eggs until frothy in another bowl. Add the melted butter along with the eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla. Tip in the flour and mix only until combined. Stir in the chocolate and ¾ of the nuts. Try not to over mix the batter, you'll end up with tough brownies if you do.

Spread the batter into the prepared tin and scatter the remaining nuts on top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until done. Don’t overbake. You want them dry on the top with a slight resistance to the touch of a fingertip, but you also want them to be fudgy and moist.
Let cool, then cut into bars and dust with the icing sugar.

Chocolate Brownie Mousse Cake

I did not fiddle with these recipes except to replace 2 tablespoons of milk in the mousse with an equal amount of the Kahlua that had been part of the original cheesecake recipe. I am a fan of Ms.Boyles, ( I also have Diner Desserts and Simply Sensational Desserts ,to which she contributed ) so I decided to follow her lead ( and I'm not the most confident of meddlers ). To sum up, what we have is a Kahlua laced bittersweet chocolate mousse on an espresso brownie base topped off with swirls of whipped cream and Vahlrona chocolate covered coffee beans. Nothing too fancy then.ESPRESSO BROWNIE MOUSSE CAKE

For the espresso brownie base:

• 115g dark chocolate, 60-70% cocoa solids
• 115g unsalted butter
• 1 tbls instant espresso powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 200g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 60g plain flour

For the bittersweet chocolate mousse:

• 450g dark chocolate, 60-70% cocoa solids (best quality please, the chocolate is the diva here so make sure she can perform)
• 140ml milk
• 20ml Kahlua
• 130g caster sugar
• 1 tsp instant espresso powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 600ml double cream

To finish:

• whipped cream
• chocolate covered coffee beans

1. To make the brownie base: Preheat the oven to 170 C. Lightly butter the base and sides of a 9 inch x 3 inch deep spring-form tin. Melt the chocolate and the butter in a bowl over a large pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the espresso powder, vanilla extract and salt. whisk in the sugar until combined. Whisk in the eggs one at a time also until combined. Lastly fold in the flour just until incorporated. Don't over mix.
2. Scrape into the tin and smooth the surface. Bake the brownie for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Place on a wire rack and let cool completely in the tin.
3. When the brownie is nearly cool get started on the mousse layer. Place the chocolate in a food processor and process until finely ground. Leave it in the processor.
4. Heat the milk, sugar, espresso powder and salt over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the milk comes to the boil. With the food processor running pour the hot milk carefully down the funnel and process until the chocolate has melted. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla and process until blended. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool. (If you don't have a food processor chop the chocolate finely and put in a large bowl, heat the milk mixture as before and pour over the chocolate. Leave for a minute then stir until chocolate has melted. Stir in the vanilla and set aside until cool.
5. In another bowl whip the cream until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula gently fold in one-third of the cream into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining cream until completely blended.
6. Scrape the mousse onto the brownie base and spread into an even layer. Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Serves 10-12.

Vegan Brownie...

Having spent a lot of time with a bunch of vegans I decided it was time to explore the sordid world of eggless cusine... Very sordid... sordid... and tasty

VEGAN FUDGE BROWNIES

1/2 Package Medium Tofu
1/2 Cup Vegan Margarine
1/2 Cup Cocoa
1/2 Cup Granulated Fruit Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Unbleached All Purpose Flour
2 - 3 Tablespoons Broken Pecans
4 -5 Tablespoons Vegan Caramel

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Prepare a 9″x 9″ pan with a light misting of spray oil and line the bottom with a square of parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, whip the tofu until smooth.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the margarine ad add the sugar. Stir in the cocoa and whisk until smooth.
Meanwhile, add the brown sugar, salt and vanilla to the tofu. Blend well.
Combine the cocoa mixture with the tofu and sugar until it is well incorporated.
Remove the blade from the food processor and fold in the flour.
Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle the top with the pecan pieces.
Bake for approximately 20 -25 minutes, until the the top appears set and shiny.
Drizzle over the caramel, and allow brownies to cool completely.

ARCTIC AVALANCHE BROWNIES

To construct these brownies you will need:
1 Package of semi-sweet chocolate chips, look for a sweetened pure chocolate.
Read the label to avoid all milk ingredients.
1 Pint Soy Good Vanilla (or Butterscotch Swirl)
2 Tablespoons Margarine

Once the Vegan Fudge Brownies have cooled completely, remove them from the pan and trim the edges by about 1/4″.
Let the ice cream sit for about 10 - 15 minutes to soften. Once you are able, place the entire contents in to the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix the ice cream on low to make it smooth but don’t allow it to melt.
Wash and reline the brownie pan with two sheets of parchment which will run up the sides, over hanging slightly on each edge.
Add more caramel, if desired.
Spoon the ice cream over the brownie and smooth to the edge with spatula.
Place the pan into the freezer to reset the ice cream. (About one hour.)
While you are waiting place a glass bowl over a simmering saucepan of water. Melt the margarine in the bowl then add half of the chocolate chips. Stir occasionally to smoothly melt, then add the remaining chips.
Fit cooling rack with a cookie sheet beneath it.
Once the ice cream has set, remove the brownie from the pan by pulling up from the parchment.
Run a chefs knife under hot water and quickly cut the brownies into approximately 2 1/2 ” x 4″ pieces.
Transfer the brownies to the cooling rack.
Using a ladle, quickly and evenly spoon the melted chocolate over the center of the ice cream/brownie square.
Return everything to the freezer until set and ready to serve.

Serves 6