brownies :o)

I still chuckle when I think of the following brownie recipe. Mary found it in some paper when she was in London. It had something to do with Mental Health Awareness Week and it said something like 'make brownies for your depressed friend' or something, way to make someone fat and even more depressed! I can't remember exactly, but whatever it was, it was hilariously inappropriate. Nevertheless, it is an awesome recipe! I just made it the other day but it didn't turn out as I remember, perhaps Canadian cocoa isn't as chocolaty as the Polish one, but just give it a taste and add the necessary cocoa so that it has that deep bitter chocolate flavour! The best part of this is that it makes 1 dirty pot and no time at all.

Mental Awareness Brownies

1.  115 g plain flour
2. 5 tbsp cocoa powder (add a couple more for sure!)
3. 280 g caster sugar (a little less doesn't hurt)
4. 2 eggs, beaten (if you want to wash that extra bowl)
5. 115 g melted butter (I just leave it in a metal measuring cup and melt in directly on the stove or cooker as mom says :o))
6. 1 tsp vanilla essence or package of vanilla sugar

Preheat oven to 170C. Grease a 8x8-12 inch cake tin or whatever you can find.
Mix flour, cocoa and sugar together.
Add the eggs and give it a quick stir.
Add in the melted butter and vanilla and mix it until smooth.
Pour into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, 25 if you want them nice and gooey. Scrummy with ice cream!



For the next recipe, it's Nigella all the way, this is when you want to impress. I once made these brownies for Fredrik when he came over to Toronto from Sweden for the weekend once (I'm blushing), and he's still around :o)... It's perhaps not the simplest nor cheapest recipe, but it's worth the hassle!

Nigella's Flourless Chocolate Brownies

1. 225 g dark chocolate
2. 225 g butter
3. 2 tsp vanilla extract or a bag of vanilla sugar
4. 200 g caster sugar
5. 3 eggs, beaten
6. 150 g ground almonds
7. 100 g chopped walnuts (optional) 

• Preheat oven to 170C/fan.
• Grease a 24cm square tin.
• Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat.
• Once melted, take off the heat and mix in the vanilla and sugar and leave to cool.
• Whisk the eggs into the chocolate mixture making sure that it is cool enough so that the eggs don't scramble.
• Add the ground almonds and chopped walnuts.
• Pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for 25-30 minutes.

If you're feeling especially chocolately inclined, you can opt for a sauce:

1.  75 g dark chocolate
2. 125 ml double cream
3. 2 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp water
4. 1 tbsp golden syrup

Dump everything into a pan and melt over gentle heat. Pour into a small pitcher and serve with ice cream and brownies.