Brownies

Brownies are a good old-fashioned treat for the whole family. Adriano talks us step-by-step through the process of making a rocking brownie with his fabulous recipe. The key elements are texture, good quality chocolate and not overmixing the ingredients so you end up with a soft chocolatey fudgy brownie.

• makes

  16

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 170 g hazelnuts
• 70 g unsalted butter, cut into small squares
• 265 g dark couverture chocolate, cut into small pieces
• 45 g plain flour
• 5 g baking powder
• 35 g cocoa
• a pinch of salt
• 3 eggs
• 265 g brown sugar
• 35 g vegetable oil
• 85 g sour cream
• 85 g white couverture chocolate, cut into small pieces
• 85 g milk couverture chocolate, cut into small pieces
• 1 can Nestlé Top ’n’ Fill Caramel

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C. Arrange the hazelnuts on a baking tray. Cook in the oven until they’re lightly golden and the skins start to come away from the nuts. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly. Rub to separate the skins from the nuts.

 

Place the butter and dark chocolate in a medium stainless-steel bowl. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, and place the bowl over the saucepan. Switch off the heat and leave for about 5 minutes or until the chocolate and butter have melted completely. Stir the mixture until smooth. (The chocolate must be kept warm at 45°C so it doesn’t seize when added to the remaining ingredients.)

Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa into a clean bowl. Add a pinch of salt, and set aside for later.

Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl. Using a whisk, gently mix until combined. Add the vegetable oil to the melted chocolate mixture.

Using a spatula, gently fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Fold in the cocoa and flour mixture, and add the sour cream, taking care not to overmix. You want the mixture to be just combined.

Stir in the white and milk chocolate, and hazelnuts. Pour the mixture into a 15 cm x 15 cm cake tin. Pour a quarter of the caramel into each corner of the tray. Swirl the caramel through the mixture. Again, don’t over-mix.

Put the tray on the middle shelf and bake the mixture at 180°C for 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven when the top forms a crust and the brownie feels firm and spongy to touch.

Set aside to cool completely. Cut the brownies into squares to serve.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.