Delectable Brownies!

These brownies are to die for! Chewy and more-ish you can adjust the recipe and add nuts, choc chips or even dry fruit!

(Serves 25 small squares or 12 indulgent portions)

Ingredients:

100g cocoa powder sifted

200g melted butter

2 cups castor sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

90g sifted plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Optional: 200g choc chips or nuts

Method:

Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper. Pre-heat the oven to 150 C.

In a large bowl mix the cocoa with the butter.

Add the eggs and the vanilla.

Add the sugar.

Mix really well until you have a chocolate goey mess.

Add the flour and baking powder.

Fold in gently, don't overmix! If you overmix you develop the gluten proteins in the flour and your end product will be a hard chocolate cake instead of a chewy and fudgy brownie. (if adding nuts or chips do so at this stage)

Pour mixture into tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour. Test with a cake tester, the crumbs should be moist but not wet. If still wet bake for another 15 minutes.

Leave to cool in the tin and unmould once it has cooled down. Cut with a sharp knife.

Enjoy!

Nutritional Facts:

• Chocolate is compared to blueberries in being a super food rich in antioxidants.
• It is a mineral rich food, it contains potassium and magnesium which are vital for good heatlh.
• It is surprisingly rich in fibre.
• It contains little or no cholesterol. Any cholesterol comes from the addition of milk ingredients.

A few notes on Chocolate:

• Chocolate is made by extracting cocoa solids and cocoa butter from roasted cacao beans and blending them in varying quantities with different ingredients (such as sugar, vanilla, milk products etc). The solids provide a rich bitter flavour and the butter and smooth mouth-feel.
• The best cocoa beans are produced in countries that lie on the equator such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
• The best chocolatiers are the French and Belgians producing exceptional quality couverture* such as Valrhona and Callebaut.
• Is white chocolate considered chocolate? Technically no. White chocolate doesn't contain cocoa solids. It is made from cocoa butter, sugar, milk and vanilla.
• What is compound chocolate? It is a lower quality chocolate used in most households. Vegetable oil is replaced for cocoa butter. It doesn't have the flavour or texture of the more expensive chocolates but is is easy to work with and melts quickly.
• Cocoa Powder is made by rolling cocoa solids to produce a dark, bitter powder.

*Couverture is French for "covering" and this is the chocolate professionals generally use as it has a higher percentage of cocoa butter than ordinary chocolate, which means it is glossier and has more flavour which then carries through to the finished recipe.