Brownie Biased

I'm a fan of everything chocolate, the richer, the better and I absolutely love chocolate brownies, but am quite fussy about them. They have to be rich, dense and preferably only chocolate - I'm definitely not a fan of brownies with nuts! My friends all know one of my favorite sayings 'don't contaminate the chocolate'.

However whenever I go out chocolate brownies is not something I ever order as to be fair I am usually disappointed, they're either too dry, not chocolaty enough or have nuts in them. You see I found a really fantastic brownie recipe by Nigel Slater which I used as my base and changed around a few ingredients and have never looked back. I try not to stray from this recipe as nothing ever compares.

However today on a very windy yet sunny Sunday morning I am going to have a go at making Recipe Girls 'Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies. Will I regret it? I hope not. For a start they look absolutely amazing, dense and fudgey, with a thick chocolate topping so here goes nothing.

The Recipe

1 cup unsalted butter (250 ml)

3 ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (90 g)

1 cup sugar (250 ml)

1/2 cup best-quality cocoa powder (125 ml)

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened (125 ml)

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10 ml)

1/2 cup flour (125 ml)

1/4 teaspoon fine salt (1 ml)

for the topping - Ganache

6 ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (170 g)

6 tablespoons heavy cream (90 ml)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter (45 ml)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter an 8-inch square pyrex pan.
2. Place chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl; set aside. In a small glass bowl, melt butter in microwave (take it out before it starts bubbling.) Pour butter over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Sift in sugar and cocoa powder.
3. With a wooden spoon, beat in mascarpone, eggs and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Gently fold in flour and salt.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Place into preheated oven and bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
5. Place pan on cooling rack and let brownies cool 10 to 15 minutes while you make the ganache.
6. Place chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream and butter to just below boiling point, over medium heat. Pour this hot mixture over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds, then stir until smooth. Pour ganache over brownies while still warm, and spread to cover evenly.
7. Let ganache firm up before cutting. It’s best to refrigerate them until quite firm. Once the ganache is firm and the brownies have been cut, they do not need to be kept in the refrigerator.

This recipe is from Recipe Girls website: Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

The recipe was fairly easy to make, I didn't use the microwave method of melting my butter and instead did it in a bain marie and I also lined my dish with a little greaseproof paper as I wanted to ensure the brownies came out easily. I was quite surprised at spreading the warm ganache over a non cooled brownie. In their dish the brownies took quite a while to cool enough for me to put them in the fridge.

As a brownie recipe goes, this one's not bad, it leaves a dense brownie with a delicisou rich topping, and as nice as it is, it's just not as yummy as my recipe, my recipe has more chocolate and different flavour due to the coconut flour.

I'm glad I tried this recipe and will enjoy eating it, but from now on I'll be sticking to my recipe. :)