Right! The secrets of Quantum's brownies: revealed!
I’ll warn you now, there is an obscene about of chocolate in these. This means they are (relatively) not cheap to make compared to other recipes. But by god they are good!
Basic Ingredients:
275g caster sugar (though I’ve used all sorts of brown sugars too and they’ve all worked fine)
3 medium eggs
175g butter
200g dark-but-not-too-dark chocolate - you want around 50 - 60% cocoa solids
175g plain flour
100g properly dark chocolate chips, around 70% cocoa solids for these.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
Start by mixing the ingredients in 3 pairs.
1. mix the eggs with the sugar until thoroughly combined. Top tip 1 - air is THE ENEMY of good, fudgy, brownies. Make sure you don’t introduce any by keeping your spoon in contact with the bowl AT ALL TIMES!
2. Melt the butter with the 200g chocolate - either in a bowl over a pan of barely boiling water, or in a microwave. Top tip 2 - either method is fine, but because you’re melting the chocolate with the butter it is MUCH less likely to split. This means using the microwave is easier and lower risk than usual. And top tip 3 - heat it just until it’s melted and combined. Don’t let us get too hot, as you’re about to add it to eggs and you don’t want to scramble them.
3. Mix the flour and the 100g chocolate chips. Top tip 4 - don’t be tempted to miss this step. Coating the chocolate chips in flour will mean they don’t sink to the bottom of your brownies when you cook them.
Now you’re going to combine all three pairs together. Add the melted chocolate mix to the egg and sugar mix and stir to combine. When it’s thoroughly mixed, add the flour and chocolate chips and stir to combine until there is no visible flour. Remember - air is THE ENEMY! Keep your spoon in contact with the bowl at all times!
If you want to add any extras, stir them in now - nuts (I don’t, but okay), spices (if you must) or dried fruit (weirdos), anything else you fancy.
Now pour the mix into a baking tin. Top tip 5 - you want brownies to be quite thin, otherwise the outside will be dry by the time the middle is cooked enough to hold together. A dish that is 20cm x 34cm is perfect but hard to find. Look for one with a similar surface area. You want the batter to be no more than 2cm deep. It’s worth lining the tin with parchment.
Baking - how long you bake it for is going to depend a bit on how you like your brownies and how fast or slow your oven is. I like my brownies a bit cakier than is fashionable, so I generally cook them for about 22 minutes. But if your oven is very fast, or you prefer a gooier brownie, they might be done after 16 or so. This is something you need to experiment with - but err on the side of caution. Cakier brownies are edible and still delish, especially with a scoop of ice cream. Raw ones are not
. Reduce the cooking time next time if you want them softer. However! Top tip 6 - when you think the brownies are ready, give them a good shake - they should crack on the top and still hold together, but be soft enough to have a decent wobble in the middle.
Finally - leave to cool for as long as you can bear, then devour the lot. Or actually, don’t - they’re really rich and you’ll make yourself sick. I recommend cutting this quantity into 12, but you can go bigger or smaller if you want.
All credit to Konditor and Cook for the recipe, and especially the lovely Laure, who taught me everything I know - about brownies, anyway!