Chocolate Brownie Breakdown

Chocolate Brownies just nearly gave me a heart attack, but not in the way you might think.

See, I had a recipe for Chocolate Brownies that - I have to be careful about making grand statements here - was simply the bestest ever in the history of brownies. Or chocolate. Or recipes. I can't tell you how many people I've had gushing over them. Gushing, I swear.

I originally found the recipe on Cadbury's Australian website many moons ago. So I bookmarked it thinking that was that. Apparently though, bookmarks don't last forever and neither did Cadbury Australia's love for my brownies. Scandalously, they replaced them for newer models featuring fancy schmancy creme eggs and marbling. Please.

Well, who should come to my rescue but the good people of Cadbury New Zealand. They had adopted my beloved brownies and were lovingly caring for them on their wonderful site. Visiting today to get the recipe though, I see that the Kiwis have similarly been wooed by the schmancy brownie - this one with macadamias. Giving me an out and out heart attack. And a nervous breakdown. In one. I really need to learn to keep things in a safe place.

So there I sat this afternoon, frantically trawling (yes, trawling) through recipe after recipe trying to piece together my brownies. The things I have seen! Cocoa powder, sour cream, salt, 4 eggs in one bowl. Things one should never see in a brownie.

But alas, like the good people of NZ before them, the people of www.cadbury.co.za (Zambia? Zimbabwe?) have come to my and my Party of 11's rescue and here it is! Don't worry, I've printed, laminated, tweeted, facebooked and pinterested it for immortality. Ok, ok. I exaggerate, I don't have facebook.

The beauty of this recipe is not only in the taste, but it only needs one bowl, uses the microwave and is totally and utterly free of any schmanciness. Everything I'm looking for in a man. I mean recipe.

Finally, while I've never met chocolate I don't like, don't be tempted by anything other than Cadbury chocolate for this recipe. Keep that other stuff for future adventures. Or eat it now. I won't judge.

Make them and let me know what you think!

PS. Apparently .za is the domain for South Africa. Of course it is.

The Bestest Chocolate Brownies Ever

(from www.cadbury.co.za - but probably only for a limited time if history is any guide!)

 

Ingredients

200g (8 rows) Cadbury Dark Cooking Chocolate, chopped
125g butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional) 

 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water or in the microwave oven on Medium (50% power) power for 2-3 minutes.
2. Stir in the sugar, vanilla essence and the eggs. Mix well. Add the flour and nuts (if you wish), and stir well.
3. Pour the mixture into a lined 28 x 18 cm slab pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
4. Leave in the pan to cool. Dust liberally with icing sugar before serving.
5. Note: If serving as a dessert, allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before cutting into pieces. Sandwich pieces together with some ice cream and serve with Chocolate Sauce.

 

---