Squigy gooey chocolate goodness! (Cakes)

Member Name: severus_snape

Product:	Cakes
Date:	17/09/06 (2405 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very, very good - especially if you need cheering up

Disadvantages: No disadvantages here - it's chocolate! Just don't overbake, or they'll be dry and boring

Yesterday was the first Saturday I've had to myself for several weeks - do to working and then having a holiday for two weeks. The weather didn't seem promising (although, typically, after deciding to stay in, it turned out to be the sunniest day all week), and so I decided to do some baking. I'd had a bad week, and decided that something chocolate-related was the way to go...

So I settled on Chocolate Brownies. I delved into my trusty Nigella Lawson book, "How to be a Domestic Goddess" (or Domestic God, in my case :p) and scrambled around for the recipe. I'd made them a few times before, but the last time was a few months earlier, and couldn't really remember anything about them - exept that they were yummy. I dashed off to Tesco and came back with the right ingredients for the following recipie:

375g Butter
375g Dark Chocolate (the best you can afford)
6 Eggs (Preferably Organic, Free Range)
500g Caster Sugar
1tsb Vanilla Extract
225g Plain Flour
300g Chopped Walnuts

This all seems rather a lot, but it makes around 48. You'd need a tin measuring 33 x 23 cms; I wasn't making them for enough people, however, so I halved everything and used a smaller tin. Not a fan of walnuts, I used 150g of white chocolate chips, with great success; but I've also used dried cherries and almond bits before now, so feel free to experiment. If you're substituting another nut, however, make sure it's a hard-ish nut: in a side note, Nigella says how she tried using pistachios, and they went far too soft.

To make: Preheat the oven to Gas 4 / 180c, and line your tin. Melt the butter and chocolate slowly in a saucepan; meanwhile, beat together the eggs and sugar in a bowl with the vanilla extract. Measure the flour into another bowl. When the chocolate's melted beat it into the egg mixture, and then add the flour. Beat together to a smooth consistency, and then add your nuts/choc chips, or whatever. Pour into the tin, and transfer to oven.

Easy peasy!

Cook for about 25 minutes, and then check: they should be pale brown, but still squigy underneath. Allow to cool in the tin for a while before transfering to a wire rack.

I've served these for dessert before now, and dusted them with icing sugar, before serving with Creme Fraiche. I think you could serve them with Ice Cream or softly beaten cream - or just have them on their own.

Either way, they're pure goodness. Bon Appetite!

Summary: Chocolate chocolate....