Nigel Slater's Choc Brownies

[aseriouslyblondemoment]

does anyone have a recipe to beat his?

what didn't you like about the hummingbird ones Twentieth?

Not sure really, I think the flavour wasn't as chocolatey as some I've had. The texture was pretty good though.

heffa did you have them warmed thru/melted?

We had them warm from the oven, then I had a couple cold and we had them for pudding warmed up with some icecream - which was pretty yummy! They weren't bad, just not as nice as some others (and not the best thing I've made from the Hummingbird book).

How about Nigella Lawson's brownie, the one where she is using 375g of dark chocolate, 375g unsalted butter, 6 large eggs, 1 tbs vanilla extract, 500g caster sugar, 225g plain flour, 1 tsp salt (why it is needed), 300g chopped wallnuts.

I like dark rich brownies. This cake is nice but only with high quality chocolate like Lindt; I do not even add the salt. Sometimes instead of the walnuts I add raspberries or bake just a plain chocolate brownie.

One problem happens and I do not know whether it is because of the quality of chocolate, butter or of the way they have been melted. The oil comes out when the cake is baking. Becomes a greasy cake.

sounds like you have fully road tested them then heffa?!
did the dcs like them?
octavia i spotted your thread but didn't post as have had a busy day
is this from 'domestic goddess'?
i have the book but have never made the recipe as dcs have never been fussed about nuts and my now dp has a nut allergy!
but the choc quality is an interesting point as some of the recipes mentioned on this thread do not seem to require deluxe choc to be tasty and to turn out a nice result
i have found this with the nigel slater ones which are more than lovely with sainsbo's cheapo choc but are uber lovely made with g&b's

Yes, fully road tested

I made them with DD and she loved making them, watched them cook through the oven door, waited for them to cool down, then refused to eat them. She's only 2 though and tends to prefer cooking to eating so not a reliable judge. DS only 3 months so didn't try them.

Octavia - I rarely add salt to any recipe really and haven't had a problem yet. Haven't had the greasy problem either so no advice here unfortunately.

Funnily enough Octavia I made the suzy wong brownies the other day and all the butter oozed out too, never had that problem before. They tasted ok in the end, but was a bit weird.

We need a poll for the best brownies, rated for value (e.g. Nigella's look horrifically expensive), taste, ease of cooking etc.

Nigella's has become an expensive brownie. I do not add salt either. I do not add salt to anything I bake. The taste is great.

Nigella's brownie can be cooked without nuts. I think it is a nice cake when the butter does not come out.

I often make hot chocolate using cocoa powder. May be I should try baking brownie with it as well. I guess it is going to be less calorious.

To those who have allergies. Soya lecithin is often added to chocolates and soya is one of the strongest allergens.

The second cook yourself thin recipe book has a perfectly respectable brownie recipe made with oil and coco powder so less calories. Will try and post when I get a chance. I feel like I can eat them with a bit more abandon.

And can I just say for the record BROWNIES SHOULD NOT CONTAIN NUTS! Way to ruin a good cake...

MassiveBumperlicious, which butter and chocolate did you use?

Last time I baked brownie with raspberried. Both my husband and I liked it. I also like brownies with nuts but sometimes there are bitter nuts (when the nut become old or when the oil in the nut becomes old, often from heat); bitter nuts are not good for health; you can get poisoned.

As for the oil instead of butter, does it give a nice smell? I like the smell of butter and cocoa, I think these two ingredients go very well together. I once baked muffins using olive oil as I did not have butter. The muffins were light and tasty. The smell was slightly different.

My recipe uses only cocoa and no actual chocolate, and is very quick. I do like to add a bit of green and blacks drinking choc though, which ups the price a wee bit.

I'd love to do a brownie tasting poll. We should do a list of the ones to try and then do a proper mumsnet questionnaire?

I'm up for a brownie making session, we should each pick a recipe and then rate it, even better if we can each do a couple. Bagsy not Nigella's though, it would kill my food budget!

ok - shall we do a list of all the brownie recipes on this thread then each pick two? Hopefully we'll get some more taesters

I'd be up for doing that, would be good to have an ultimate brownie guide!

I think it would a good idea (in my opinion) if we listed the names of all brownies you have baked and gave the recipe of the best one. So, we could know which ones are behind.

Right, I will try the cook yourself thin ones again this weekend if I get a chance, just to remind myself!

I also have another recipe, not sure where it comes from but was given to me by someone at work who bought in some lovely brownies, but again, I need to remind myself!

ooh ladies i see that we're all up for the challenge then!
as nige's are my fav ever i intend to make heffa's rolo ones and also 120's
really tho i should batch bake several recipes and then have a blind tasting sess
the dcs are going to love me lol

haven't got time tonight to go through this thread and do a list, but happy to give it a shot tomorrow so we cover all of them. I'm happy to make any that others aren't.

I think ratings should cover:

ease/time of method
cost of ingredients
chocolatiness
gooey/cakey factor
and of course snaffle factor - which ones disappear first (or you wouldn't share)

is that all a bit too scientific?

I'll make niges, nigellas and the whiskey ones.

was inspired by this thread earlier and made the nigel slater brownies, very delicious, DD age 17 has taken half to sleep over.

did you make the proper 70% choc version occyelf?
btw heffa before i do my weekly shop i meant to ask you what choc you use in your rolo brownies?

Made the 120 brownies.

I feel no need to make any other kind, ever. These seem to hit all my brownie buttons!

Used 70% choc smashed with a rolling pin, rather than choc chips. I had none in. I only used Rowntrees cocoa, so that is something to improve on, when can afford some better quality stuff.

I like it cold, thick and dense from the fridge.

Drool. Also, we still haev plenty left. A slice is plenty, it's so thick and satisfying. So in some way that makes these brownies full of virtue.

Hello there, having never made brownies before (but snaffled many!) I have been making Lilymaid's recipe (minus the coffee) these holidays and think they're great. They are easy to make, use storecupboard ingredients (and not too many eggs!), taste great and have the lovely soft chewiness in the middle and crunchiness on the top :).

had to tweak recipe, used green & black 70% to melt (was a bit short) so used my secret stash (from willie and the chocolate factory fame) in pebble sized pieces, ds requesting that we make more.