brownie Archives - Sugar et al

Fudgy Brownie Cake

20|11|2018

My husband and I have very different tastes when it comes to desserts. I’m a rich, creamy and cold mousse kind of person while he loves a gooey, warm dessert. ‘Warm’ is the keyword! If he’s ordering a carrot cake, he wants it warmed up. Which to me does not make sense because there is a cream cheese frosting with it. If he’s having a berry muffin, it needs to come warm and that will most often require it to be removed from the liner which aesthetically doesn’t appeal to me. So we usually order our own things at a restaurant or a cafe. But if it ever happens that we decide to share a dessert (you know, it happens! Too full but not going to leave without dessert) the only thing we can ever agree to is a brownie. A warmed up fudgy brownie served with a side of vanilla ice cream. Dessert is sorted!
As for the boys, one is a dessert lover, the other is not. But brownies win there too.

Given that we are united as a family when it comes to brownies, it is good to have a brownie cake in my repertoire for special occasions and weekend indulgences. This cake always does it. The perfect way to enjoy it is warming it up in the microwave before serving and topping it up with fresh berries or your favourite ice cream. The recipe cannot be simpler. Over the years, I’ve simplified it by mixing the entire thing in one saucepan, the same one I use to warm my butter and chocolate in. So this recipe is not only delicious but very convenient as well.

Gingerbread cake is no doubt the choice for the season but a brownie cake is a hit anytime. Look how festive it looks without effort!

Fudgy Brownie Cake
makes a 6 inch round cake

125 g unsalted butter
300 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1 cup castor sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup plain flour
fresh cherries, to serve

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C (150 degrees C for fan forced ovens) Grease the base and sides of a 6 inch round pan and line the base with baking paper.

In a heavy bottom saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together. Cool slightly (about 15 minutes). Add the sugar and stir to mix. Add the eggs, a little at a time and continue to stir.
Add the cocoa powder and flour and mix till well blended. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until the cake is almost cooked through and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs clinging. Loosen the sides with a butter knife and allow the brownie cake to cool in the pan.

Turn onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature with berries and ice cream on the side.

Chocolate Brownie Cake

4|03|2017

I was supposed to share a different recipe today but this cake turned out so good that I couldn’t wait until next week. After all, what better to make on the weekend than a good chocolate cake. When that chocolate cake is the most fudgy, outrageously delicious brownie cake you have to share it with the world, right?. A perfectly cracked top and a rich, moist interior and above all, a few simple ingredients that are mostly available at home. I’ve been under the weather this week and this cake got me all excited. I’ve made enough brownies and cakes in the last two decades to know a really good recipe. This is a keeper!

It’s Autumn over here and the light is beautiful. A subtle, diffused light that makes me want to stand outside and photograph everything I can lay my hands on. Summer is my favourite season mainly for the beautiful fresh produce it brings with it and I feel a bit sad when it ends but the first few weeks of Autumn are the best where there is an overlap. We are still enjoying plums, peaches and figs but the apples have started arriving and the weather has cooled down substantially. As for this Brownie cake, the beauty of a chocolate cake is that it defies seasons and reasons. Make it anytime, anywhere.

The initial plan was to decorate the Brownie Cake with red berries. However, it does not need a thing. A sprinkling of icing sugar was enough. The recipe requires the eggs to be separated and whites whipped first and then mixed into the batter. This is the perhaps the reason why the texture is so amazing. If you haven’t separated eggs before, go for it this time. It’s worth it and does not require any perfection as such. If you’d like to try out variations, throw in some orange zest or orange peel, or add a teaspoon of instant coffee powder for a Mocha flavour. I made mine in a 6 inch cake pan and the it had a decent height. If you don’t have a 6 inch pan, you could make it in a 7 inch pan as well. The baking time will reduce to about 45 mins but its best to keep an eye on it after 40 mins.

Chocolate Brownie Cake (adapted with variation from BBC Goodfood)
Makes a 6 inch, round cake.

175 g unsalted butter, roughly chopped
175 g dark chocolate , roughly chopped
1 cup (200 g) castor sugar
3 medium eggs, separated
1/2 cup (about 65 g ) plain flour
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts (or a nut of your choice)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Grease a 6 inch round pan (base and sides) and line the base with baking paper. Place the butter, chocolate and sugar in a medium saucepan over low heat until melted, stirring occasionally until blended. Remove from heat and leave aside to cool (about 20 minutes).

Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture, then add the flour and nuts.

Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then gently, but thoroughly, fold into the chocolate mixture.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 50-60 mins or until crusty on top. Leave to cool, then run a knife around the sides and remove from the pan. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookie+Brownie Semifreddo

20|05|2014

Cookies anyone? Brownies? How about ice cream? Don’t even bother to answer that. Because I am going to give you all of these in one mammoth-ly delicious recipe. And you don’t even need an ice cream machine! Make it, freeze it and eat it the way you like. In scoops or cut it up into slices.

There are 3 elements in the recipe. The star of the show…which is the peanut butter semifreddo, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and nutella brownies. Appears like a lot of work but trust me, it’s not. Here’s why. The cookies are a 5-ingredient wonder that take less than 20 minutes to make from start to finish, including baking time. And they are gluten free. Exactly the same way, the brownies are made with 3 ingredients and baked in ramekins. So you see it’s all about quick and smart cooking. You always have the choice of using store bought cookies and brownies but it really isn’t that hard to make them at home. Both are one-bowl recipes. And the outcome is so worth it.

You will be left over with plenty to cookies to eat later. The texture of the cookies are slightly different from those that use flour. I found them to be slightly crumbly which was great for the semifreddo but they would not store very well otherwise. I think I would freeze the dough next time and bake them as I need. I baked the brownies in ramekins and I managed to get 6 large ones. Feel free to halve the recipes if you don’t want a lot of extras.

This post is my contribution to Roxana’s Chocolate Party, this months smashing combo being Chocolate-Peanut butter. I’m terribly late this time but nevertheless I couldn’t miss the opportunity to unite with my fellow Chocolate lovers.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookie+Brownie Semifreddo
Serves 6

3 egg yolks
1 egg
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup thickened or heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (increase if you want a stronger taste)
1 nutella brownie, finely chopped (recipe below)
6 peanut butter cookies, crumbled (recipe below)

Use an electric mixer to whisk the egg, egg yolks and sugar in a medium heatproof bowl until thick and creamy. While continually whisking, place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk for 5 minutes or until mixture almost doubles in size. Remove from heat and set aside.

When egg yolk mixture has cooled down slightly, add the peanut butter and stir with a fork to blend in. Add half the cream to the egg mixture and fold in until combined (The peanut butter mixture thickens up quite a bit but adding cream would lighten it). Add the remaining cream, fold through till no white streaks appear. Gently fold in the brownie and cookies.

Pour into a 1 litre capacity metal or pyrex loaf tin. If you plan to serve the semifreddo in slices, you will need to line the base and sides of the pan with plastic wrap, allowing the sides to overhang. Place in the freezer for 6 hours or overnight until firm.

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Taste.com)
Makes 24 cookies

1 cup (260g) crunchy peanut butter
1 cup (200g) brown sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (185g) dark choc bits

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Lightly grease two baking trays and line with non-stick baking paper. Combine peanut butter, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and egg in a bowl. Stir in choc bits.

Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on the prepared tray. Press lightly with a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light golden. Leave to cool on the trays then place into an airtight container.

3 Ingredient Nutella Brownies (adapted from this recipe)
Makes 6 brownies

1 cup (280 g) Nutella
2 eggs
10 tbsp. (62 g) plain flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Place all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Mix till smooth. Spoon into muffin cases or a baking tray or ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes (longer if you are using a baking tray) or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out with a few crumbs. Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes and turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Cake

1|03|2014

Brownies!!! I can never have enough of them. How about you?
Perhaps this is one sweet treat that one can go on talking about. None of which is new. But the thought of it can make one feel warm and fuzzy and mushy and gooey and like the best things in life make one feel.

If you’ve been with me for a while now, you know my love for raspberries. I would give you brownie points for that one. Or maybe this cake. Combining the best of the two. This cake is fudgy, rich and decadent. Firm on the outside, moist and a tad bit tart from the raspberries. I added a handful of hazelnuts to include an element of crunch.

The cake would easily qualify for a celebration cake. It has a good height and texture. While it is extremely easy to put together it is not an everyday dessert. There are frozen raspberries within the batter so it can be made at any time of the year. Feel free to add a ganache topping to make it sinful. Actually, it already is but maybe look wise it can benefit from the ganache. But looks can be deceptive. Like the little shadow that paced my kitchen, peeking through the glass while the oven was doing it’s work.
‘Brownie!!’ He exclaimed. ‘I want a large one!’
Much to my surprise, he ate a large one. Large for his size. Crumbs and all!

Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Cake
Serves 10-12

300g butter, roughly chopped
400g dark chocolate, chopped
11/4 cup castor sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups plain flour
2/3 cup self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped
11/2 cups frozen raspberries (or fresh)
Fresh raspberries, to serve

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Grease a 22 cm round cake pan and line the base and sides with baking paper. Place butter and chocolate in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes or until smooth and combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.

Add sugar, egg, flours and cocoa. Mix well to combine. Fold in the raspberries and hazelnuts, reserving 2 tbsp of the hazelnuts to place on top. Carefully pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Level top with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Top with reserved hazelnuts. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until top of the cake is firm to touch. a skewer inserted in the middle should come out with a few crumbs. Cool completely in the pan. Once cooled, top with fresh raspberries. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.