Brownies (Joy of Baking)

I baked this in August but didn't have time to blog about it as things have been quite crazy the last few months!  Anyway, Jr watched an episode of Masterchef Australia which featured brownies and asked to make some.  I thought we should try the brownie recipe from Joy of Baking this time. (I had done Nigella's Flourless Chocolate Brownies previously.)

Based on my previous experience with Joy of Baking's recipes, and the fact that they warn you about the baking time only being a guide, I decided to bake the brownies for 20 min instead of the recommended 25 - 30 min.  Even then, it turned out a little bit dry.  I'm wondering now if my oven is too hot. But the oven thermometer tells me that the temperature is OK.  I'll try out Nigella's recipe again and see if it's an oven thing or a recipe thing.


Or perhaps, they are two different types of brownies. One fudgier and one more cookie-like.  (Which suddenly reminds me of those gorgeous Ben's cookies I used to get at Oxford's covered market during my student days.)

Anyway, it was quite yummy, and not as sweet as Nigella's version.  Still, I prefer Nigella's brownies.

Flourless Chocolate Brownies with Hot Chocolate Sauce

As you would probably have guessed, I'm a chocolate lover. And all chocolate lovers love a good brownie. This brownie from Nigella is very good, and very easy to make.

In place of flour, the recipe uses ground almonds. It also uses a lot of butter. The batter is a very oily proposition.

You basically melt the chocolate and butter, mix in the rest of the ingredients and then bake it. While hot, it never looks quite done, as it is still very gooey inside. But it will cool and set!

It's very very rich and damp and fudgy. Great with hot chocolate sauce. Nigella's recipe for hot chocolate sauce which contains some coffee powder, adding a nice kick. Great with ice-cream.