Last week I was lucky enough to go along to a pantry tour and dinner at Black Pearl Epicure in the valley, and I learnt lots of things about olive oil, vinegars, salt, cheese, and CHOCOLATE.
To say that I'm a chocoholic is probably the biggest understatement of ALL TIME, I love scarfing down chocolate, and cooking with chocolate (and eating the spoils) is probably my favourite sort of cooking.
Brownies are basically one of the most awesome inventions on the planet, and I decided I would whip some up today, using some of the lush ingredients I bought at Black Pearl! These brownies are super easy, and even more importantly, insanely chocolatey and delicious.
Super Awesome Brownies
125g unsalted butter
1 cup cocoa powder (I used Valrhona dutch processed cocoa from Black Pearl)
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
1tsp vanilla essence (I used Black Pearl's vanilla essence, so vanillary!!)
2 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips (I used Callebaut 54% couverture chocolate from Black Pearl, you could use white choc bits or a mix, or whatever you want, you could also add some chopped nuts if you feel inclined).
Pre-heat your over to 170 degrees C. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat - once melted, stir in the sugar, cocoa, and vanilla essence. Transfer to a mixing bowl and allow to cool a little. Whisk in the eggs, then sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until combined. Mix through the chocolate chips, and spoon into a greased slab tin, I used a square silicon cake tin about 20cm x 20cm. Bake for approx 25 mins - it should still be a bit soft when you take it out of the oven, but the top will be delightfully crusty and shiny. You want some serious goo-factor in the middle, unless you're INSANE, in which case you can probably continue baking for a further 5-10 minutes (but seriously, why would you??).
Cool in the tin and it should firm up a little, then cut it up and scarf it down! It's ridiculously rich, so small pieces are the way to go! Enjoy!!