Ben's Beaut Brownie

Sometime last year, Gary signed up with a mobile phone contract that gave us 3 issues (months) of ABC delicious. magazine. Somehow they never came at the time they promised. So after hassling the phone company a couple of times, the magazines finally did arrive. BUT.

3 issues came. And they were great. I love the mixture of recipes from simple everyday menus that are kids friendly to luscious celebrity chef recipes that is set to wow dinner guests. The layout is great, the pictures, everything! I thought, maybe I should subscribe. So here's the twist. The magazine never stopped coming. After 3 issues, they kept coming, and I've received 6 so far. Score! I hope they keep coming... :)

So anyways, here's a recipe from the November 2009 issue of delicious. magazine I would like to share with you.

A twice cooked chocolate brownie, by Ben O'Donoghue.



350g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
350g unsalted butter, chopped
5 eggs
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped (I used 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract)
2 cups (440g) caster sugar (1 used 220g)
1 1/3 cups (200g) plain flour
1 2/3 cups (250g) chopped macadamias

Icing sugar and vanilla ice-cream to serve

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Grease and line the base of a 36cm X 26cm slice pan.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Careful not to let the bowl touch the water. Cool slightly.


I call this the bowl of sin. Yes, there's more than a whole block of butter in there, but when it's mixed in with a whole lot of 70% cocoa Lindt Chocolate, there is no stopping me licking the spoon and a little bit of the corner of the bowl clean. Hey, try stopping a pregnant woman with a chocolate craving from doing that, that in itself is a sin! But wait... there's more!

3. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla beans (extract) in the bowl of an electric mixer on high until thick and pale. Reduce speed to low, then slowly add the chocolate mixture, mixing until well combined. Switch off the motor.



4. Fold in the flour, nuts and 1 tsp of salt, then pour into the slice pan. I used walnuts instead of macadamias, only because that was all I had in the pantry. And oh, I can never figure this out. Why do you use unsalted butter, and then add salt to the mixture at the end? Does anyone know this?



5. Bake for 40 minutes or so until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan, then turn onto a board and cut into 18 large squares.



These brownies are simply divine served as it is. Maybe with a little dusting of icing sugar and vanilla ice-cream. I had little trouble stopping myself eating a whole corner of it, the "rejected" bits from cutting them into perfect squares. But the reason why it was called twice cooked, was that you can take it up one level and steam it in a lined steamer in batches of 2-3 for 2-3 minutes until fudgy and heated through. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. I didn't. They didn't last long enough for me to attempt that.



One little tip with making brownies: Make sure they're not over baked, else they'll come out dry and crumbly. I usually take mine out when it is still a little tad underdone, as it will continue cooking as it cools down. And it is best eaten when it's freshly baked, warm, fudgy and gooey in the middle with a crackly crisp skin. Enjoy!