Dark Chocolate Brownies

These chocolate brownies were a spur of the moment thing. Nothing much was on TV so I decided to bake instead.

I've made chocolate brownies once before but they didn't turn out right. They were a tad oily and a bit too crunchy on top - it kind of resembled a blackened bread and butter pudding. I'm guessing maybe there was too much butter in the "other" recipe because when I took the pan out of the oven, I could still see the butter bubbling away. Eeeek! Nevertheless, I took the brownie to my friend's housewarming and they all devoured the brownies. So I guess they were nice BUT I wasn't satisfied. I told myself I would have to try and make brownies again to redeem myself.

This time around, I decided to use another recipe. This recipe was adapted from Alpineberry. The main reason why I used this recipe was because it had a lot less butter than the "other" one. These brownies turned out well. They were very light, chocolate-y, the texture was soft and fudgy, and the top of the brownie was slightly hardened. I love how brownies are fudge-y but yet soft when you bite into it. I guess I just don't like dense fudge-y desserts so I was never an advocate of chocolate mud cakes. Too rich in my opinion.

I handed one of these to my colleague today and she loved it. She says it's a very good chocolate brownie and I value what she says coz I know how picky she can be. So if she likes it, then it's all good and I'm happy. Successful brownie this time around! Yay!



Dark Chocolate Brownies
(makes 8)

3 oz dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- Preheat oven to 160c. Line the muffin pan with paper moulds or use a silicone muffin tray.
- Melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler, stirring occasionally, until smooth and blended. Let it cool slightly.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.
- In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg and vanilla until light in colour and doubled in volume. Whisk in the chocolate mixture and then the flour mixture until they are well combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin moulds and smooth the tops. Bake for 20 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a brownie comes out with a few moist crumbs.

I topped each of the brownies with a piece of raspberry for some colour. I had some raspberries in my freezer so why not?