Chewy fudgey perfect chocolate brownies

After years of trial and error, I’ve finally got a fail proof chocolate brownie that appears to satisfy the fussiest and hardest-to-please of all critics (aka Miss 8). These brownies are fudgey and chewy, just how we like it.

Importantly, these produce the smoothest crisply thin layer, flakey, like dried meringue shells. The key is to give the eggs and sugar a really good solid 5 minutes of whipping to give it a good light and fluffy body. I use a stand mixer to free myself for a mid-bake clean up while that’s whipping.

The secret here is the combined use of dark chocolate and cocoa powder, and with less sugar than normal brownies. This makes it distinctively brownie, not cake.

I hope you will love this as much as we do. These are perfect for school bake sales or bases of entremets. You can easily make more and freeze whole slices in two layers of foil and an air-sealed bag.

Best served warm with cold milk or ice cream!

Ingredients

• 150g unsalted butter, chopped
• 180g good quality 70% dark chocolate, chopped (I use Valrhona)
• 180g eggs (about 3 eggs), whisked
• 290g caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste (not essence)
• pinch of salt
• 115g plain flour
• 25g Valrhona cocoa powder
• Cocoa nibs, hazelnut praline, extra chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C fan forced. Grease a 20cm square cake pan and line with baking paper.
2. Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
3. Stir with a heatproof spatula until melted. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. To a large bowl add eggs and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat on a medium speed until mixture has lightened in colour and almost doubled in volume.
5. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the eggs mixture, stir to combine. Add vanilla and salt. Stir to combine.
6. Sift in flour and cocoa powder and mix lightly until just combined. Pour into the lined pan.
7. Sprinkle in your choice of cocoa nibs, hazelnut praline or extra chocolate chips. (Optional: if you wanted a smooth crisply thin top, leave sprinkles off).
8. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes or until the toothpick test comes out with moist crumbs on the stick.
9. Set aside to cool completely before removing from pan.