Another day, another brownie

Hi,
Remember me?
Probably not, but I'll continue to talk anyways.

I work at a cafe (not surprising to hear from a uni student's mouth). I make coffee for grumpy middle aged men and women (and also nice, friendly people but they are much harder to come by). I "assemble" sandwiches. I clean...a lot. And I also screw up customer's scrambled eggs because we all know everyone has their own preference for their googies yet contine to order these while out, only to be sourly disappointed and wish they'd stayed at home and made it themselves. Now I could lie and say I solely do this job for the money...but to be honest I do it for the brownies.

I am constantly on the lookout for the God of all brownie recipes - the one recipe that epitomises what brownies should be - gooey, melt in your mouthingly and intensely chocolately...WITHOUT walnuts. Although I love walnuts, which seem to feature heavily in most brownie recipes, but let's not kid ourselves here into trying to make a ridiculously indulgent piece of artwork somewhat healthy.

I've been searching for brownie utopia for multiple years. And I can happily now declare I have reached my final destination after awkwardly questioning (some would say interrogating) the brownie delivery lady each week as she drops off the warm gooey packages of goodness to my work. I don't know whether it is the gluten free flour used or the dark cocoa added or even the use of brown sugar instead of white, but oh my these brownies are the best things I've ever tasted. Embarrassingly I tell this to every customer considering the cake display fridge. If they foolishly opt for the coconut raspberry muffins instead I sink a little inside - one less person in the world is going to experience the brownie euphoria brought on by this amazing 5cm squared baked delight...

Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies (no nuts required)

200g unsalted butter softened and chopped into small pieces
200g dark chocolate (more than 70% cocoa) broken into bits
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 gluten free plain flour (or use normal regular flour - don't use self-raising because the mixture will rise too much and become too crumbly)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (the darker the better)
Pinch of salt

Melt butter and chocolate with the sugar in a heatproof dish (I do this over hot water) until all is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat to cool slightly.

Add eggs and vanilla to the mixture and stir well. Sift in the flour, cocoa and salt. Stir to combine.

Pour into a well buttered or lined brownie cake pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Let it cool in the pan first, then lift out and wrap in plastic and leave in fridge overnight (I know it's hard but refrain from tearing into it straight away - it will be too soft and crumbly to eat until set in fridge).

Chestnuts, Cherries and Chocolates

When my mum and I went to indulge in some retail therapy a few months ago, we were happy to stumble across a local farmers market set up outside the shopping centre. One particular stall was selling little plastic packages of dried fruits - including dried, sweet cherries, which they were offering taste testers.

Now, I love it when summer rolls around each year, because for me that means eating endless bowls of fresh cherries so naturally I was quite excited to find them in dried form. And let me tell you, they definitely do not disappoint. They are like tiny little morsels of intensely sweet cherry goodness - it's like eating really really good lollies (and I mean even better than starburst cherry fruitchews). I stupidly didn't buy a packet so unfortunately for me and mum it was a very fleeting love affair...

...Until now! I recently found them at the fruit shop up the road from my house, and so begins the start of a long, maybe not-so-healthy relationship. Do try them, I know you'll get hooked too.

I tried them in Jamie Oliver's deliciously dense, Chocolate Brownies with Chestnuts and Cherries

175g unsalted butter

200g good quality dark chocolate (the darker the better in my opinion)
75g dried cherries
75g whole roasted chestnuts chopped (I used tinned chestnuts as they aren't readily available)
75g cocoa powder, sifted
75g natural, roasted almonds (I added these to the recipe for added crunch)
100g plain flour, sifted

1tsp baking powder

300g caster sugar
4 large eggs

*Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water.

Remove from heat, stir in chestnuts, cherries and almonds. In a separate bowl mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar. Add this to the melted chocolate mixture until it's all combined and beat eggs into mixture too.

Pour batter into a lined and greased tin (20cm by 30cm) and place in oven for 15-20 mins. The outside will be crunchy but the middle should be gooey and soft, but still cooked.

Allow to cool in tin for 30 mins, and then cut into squares.