Mini Egg Brownies

I made these this delicious fudgey Mini Egg Brownies this morning with Bridget and Beatrice, which was a lovely way to spend Mother's Day morning as we weren't able to visit the girls' Nanny's as we usually would. 

The same recipe would work with any mini chocolate eggs, Smarties, M&M's or anything chocolatey. You could also just use chunks of chocolate or chocolate chips instead.

Whole Mini Eggs can be a choking hazard for small children under the age of five, so if I use them in any baking recipe, such as Easter Cookies with Mini Eggs I cut them in half using either a knife or crush them into 2-3 pieces using the end of a rolling pin.

Mini Egg Brownies

Here's how:

• 250g dark chocolate 
• 185g salted butter at room temperature
• 80g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 275g caster sugar
• 300g Mini Eggs

Firstly put the oven onto 180 degrees and grease and line a square or rectangular dish or tin. 

Place a small pan of water on to boil. Break up 200g of the dark chocolate and pop into a bowl with the butter and place over the boiling water. Use a wooden spoon to mix together until completely melted into chocolate lava, remove from the heat and set aside for the minute.

In a mixing bowl crack the eggs and add the caster sugar and vanilla and whisk for a few minutes until light and frothy. Set aside.

Into another bowl, sieve in the flour, cocoa and pinch of salt and give a rough stir to combine.

Now cut the remaining dark chocolate into small chunks, and cut or bash up the Mini Eggs. If you're making the brownies only for adult-consumption, you can of course keep them whole. 

Now gently pour in about half of the melted chocolate and butter into the whisked eggs and sugar, and use a wooden spoon to gently fold in, using a figure of eight technique. Be careful to be gentle here as you don't want to knock out all of the air. 

Once they are combined, repeat the process with the flour and cocoa into the chocolate batter. 

Once completely combined, add the chocolate chunks and two thirds of the Mini Eggs and give one final stir and then pour the batter into the dish and place into the oven for 28 minutes exactly.

Mini Egg Brownies

Once out of the oven, allow to stand in the dish for at least 30 minutes, and then use a sharp knife to cut into the portion size you require and enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Cookie Brownies

I made these yesterday for the end of the dance term for a tasty teacher gift and it's the first time I've made them in a while. This recipe works with any chocolate-based biscuit - I've used Bourbon's before, or even chocolate chip cookies but we love the look and taste with these Oreo style cookies - (although I actually bought the Neo biscuits, which are a cheaper copy from Lidl).

They are super rich and the extra chocolate chunks plus the cookies mean these are a real squishy, fudgy treat - delicious.

Triple Chocolate Cookie Brownies

Here's how:

• 200g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
• 185 salted butter at room temperature
• 80g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 3 eggs
• 275g caster sugar
• 100g white chocolate
• 100g milk chocolate
• 1 pack Oreo or Neo (or alternative) cookies

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees, fill and boil the kettle and then grease and line a baking tin with greaseproof paper. 

Using the just-boiled water, place into a small saucepan and in a bowl that rests on top of the saucepan, add the butter and the dark chocolate, broken into small pieces. Allow this to gently melt until it is a liquid lava of chocolate and then remove the bowl from the heat and allow to cool whilst you get everything else prepared. 

Chop the chocolate into small chunks and set aside. Also break about half of the cookies up into small pieces either by hand or by chopping and also leave to the side for the moment.

In a small bowl sift in the plain flour and cocoa powder. 

In a mixing bowl add the caster sugar and eggs and begin to whisk. This  is the most laborious part of the process - you need to work this quite hard to get as many bubbles in there as possible to allow the brownies to rise up. The final mixture should be light and fluffy and full of bubbles - do at least six minutes of whisking if doing by hand, and of course, take breaks if you need to.

Once you are satisfied, remove the whisk and grab a wooden spoon; now gently pour in the melted chocolate and butter into the bowl, and slowly fold in the mixture - be as gentle as you can to try and not whack all of the air out of the batter. 

Once this is combined, repeat the process with the flour and cocoa - use the figure of eight folding method if you can.

Finally add the chopped pieces of chocolate to the batter and mix to distribute well.

Now pour in half of the brownie batter into the baking tin. Now carefully scatter or place in the broken pieces of biscuits into the batter so they are evenly distributed. 

Triple Chocolate Cookie Brownies

Pour the remaining half of the batter over the biscuits so they are completely covered.

Finally take the remaining, whole Oreo/Neo biscuits and place neatly across the batter just on top - I try to keep one for each piece or portion of brownie. 

Once complete, place into the oven and bake for exactly 28 minutes - this timing works every time in my oven, which can be quite fast compared - so if you're unsure, use the skewer method to see if it comes out dry - if so it's done, if not return to the oven for a few more minutes, then test again.

When you remove from the oven give the tin a bang - this will make it easier to extract the brownies. 

Triple Chocolate Cookie Brownies

Leave to cool for as long as possible - it can be difficult when the kitchen is filled with an intoxicating chocolate aroma, but you'll thank me for it, when you're able to cut into neat squares. If you can't wait (we usually can't either) then be prepared for slightly more rustic brownies, with scruffier edges. Either way it won't impair the taste - enjoy!.

Boozy Chocolate and Orange Brownies

We love chocolate brownies in all their various forms in our house, but these boozy chocolate and orange brownies are strictly for grown ups. 

They're rich, decadent and the intensity of the chocolate flavour, if you use a good chocolate is just wonderful. If you follow the below, you end up with a glossy topping that is slightly cracking, but a soft and squidgy, fudgey centre - just wonderful. 

I tend to use Cointreau as it's something I always have in stock, but you could substitute for another orange liqueur such as Triple Sec, Grand Marnier, Blue Curacao or Mandarine Napoleon. You could equally switch for a shot of Tia Maria or whisky if you prefer, in terms of taste, but the chocolate and orange works really well together. 

Boozy Chocolate and Orange Brownies

Here's how:

• 185g salted butter
• 200g dark chocolate of at least 85% cocoa solids
• 80g plain flour
• 50g cocoa
• 3 eggs
• 275g caster sugar
• Zest of 1 orange 
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tbsp Cointreau or alternative orange liqueur
• 50g white chocolate
• 50g milk chocolate
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

Fill and boil the kettle and then pour into a small saucepan on a low heat. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a baking tin or dish and set aside.

Break up the dark chocolate and place into a bowl with the softened butter and gently melt over the saucepan. 

Once fully melted, remove the dark chocolate and butter from the heat. Grate the orange zest and add to the chocolate alongside the Cointreau, mix to combine and then set aside away from the hot water and allow to fully cool.

Roughly chop the white and milk chocolate into small chunks and set aside. 

Sift the plain flour and cocoa into a small bowl and set aside for a moment. 

Now in a mixing bowl add the sugar and eggs and whisk vigorously - if you have an electric whisk, it will take about five minutes, or by hand a good eight to ten. You want there to be a thick and creamy feel to the texture, as if you was making mousse. 

Now gently pour in the chocolate mixture and combine as carefully as you can, trying not to knock the air out that you have just painstaking whisked in. 

Once combined, sift over the cocoa and flour, now use the figure of eight method of mixing in, again being careful to be as gentle as possible.

Once it has formed a wet batter, add the chocolate chunks and stir through - try not to over-work here as you will knock the air out. 

Now pour into the greased, lined baking tin ad try to even out as best you can.

Place into the oven, on a middle shelf and allow to bake for 28 minutes exactly. 

Remove from the oven and give a good bang, if there is no wobble in the middle, the brownies are done, if there is a wobble return for a few more minutes then check again.

Once out of the oven, keep in the tin and place somewhere cool. Allow the brownies to cool completely before you attempt to remove them.

Cut into your preferred sized portions whilst still in the tin, and before serving dust with a little icing sugar for a final flourish. 

These will keep in an air tight container for up to a week, however I doubt they last that long; they are very moreish. Enjoy!

A few other bakes you might like to try:
Mary Berry's Marbled Chocolate Cake
Apple Cake
Lemon Drizzle Cake
Coffee & Walnut Traybake with Vanilla Latte Icing
Peach Upside Down Cake
Lemon & Honey Yoghurt Cake with Blueberries
St Clement's Drizzle Cake

Second Floor Restaurant, Harvey Nichols, Bristol

Whilst in Bristol over the past few days I enjoyed a business lunch with a colleague at Second Floor Restaurant in the Harvey Nichols in the Cabot Circus centre.

A late lunch, we arrived around 2:30pm and were one of only two tables, which made for a very quiet setting. The restaurant is very much geared up to be “fine dining” and the luxurious gold seating around the place made for a very opulent atmosphere.

We made the most of the set lunch menu and shared our food throughout so as to try as much as possible.

To start we had a pheasant terrine with a prune and red onion marmalade with toasted focaccia and a smoked kipper terrine, which came with the same bread, a little green salad and a wedge of lemon. Both were excellent, the pheasant was rich, chunky and gamey, seasoned well and beautifully complemented by the caramelised red onion and prune accompaniment. The kipper too was fantastic, much smoother in texture and with a light and delicate flavour, enhanced with a squeeze of lemon and the green salad that was generously populated with fresh sprigs of dill – always a good partner to any fish dish.

For the mains we had a fillet of South coast gurnard that came with a Jerusalem artichoke risotto and lemon veloute that looked simply stunning when it arrived. The fish was pan fried to perfection, fleshy white fish, full of flavour and with a delicious and expertly seasoned crispy skin. The risotto was very light with just the merest hint at creaminess, and again flavoured with delicate dill – divine.

Alongside the gurnard we selected the belly pork dish, cooked in ginger, chilli and coconut and accompanied by some gloriously creamy, sweet potato mash. Once again the dish looked gorgeous and the flavour certainly matched up. The pork belly had been slow cooked to the point where it absolutely fell apart and melted in the mouth, and the sauce the meat had been cooked in was a sweet yet sour, sticky glaze, Asian inspired on a classic British dish – genius. Once again, this is a dish I will be attempting to emulate in my own kitchen.

We completed the meal with a vanilla pannacotta that was ridiculously light with a poached quince compote that completely lifted the delicious vanilla cream jelly to a whole new dimension – superb. 

We also had a Valrhona chocolate brownie with a twist – it also comprised of pumpkin, something I found quite strange when perusing the menu, but that my dining companion, a chef and restaurateur, said would work well and that squash and sweet potato do work well in baking. So we gave it a shot and I wasn’t disappointed. It came with a scoop of black pepper ice cream and when it arrived it reminded me of a mini Guinness. The chocolate brownie was rich and whilst dark chocolate can be quite bitter, the pumpkin inside meant the flavour was instantly transferred to sweet. The ice cream was lovely, and subtle and worked well with this sweet chocolate dessert.

The set menu at £17 for two courses and £20 for three courses is incredibly reasonable given the high standard of food on offer, we literally couldn’t find a single flaw with the meal, which given I was with a professional chef speaks volumes. We both had a glass of house white wine with our meal and a large bottle of sparkling water and the entire bill, including service amounted to

I’ll definitely return again next time I come to Bristol, especially as the menu is seasonal and changes each month. The service was impeccable, the food flawless and the bill affordable, not to mention the view overlooking the city and watching the world go by from the second floor – a fabulous retreat.

Two Ways With.....

Peanut Butter and Chocolate

People often have things constantly in their fridge or store cupboard that only get used in the conventional fashion. This new regular slot is aimed at offering readers alternative or new ways of using up ingredients. The first post has also helped in my ambition to improve my baking skills and try cooking new treats.

Peanut butter is something that is constantly in the cupboard and is generally only used to spread on toast. Chocolate is certainly a regular item in my cupboard (never fridge) and I generally indulge in the normal way, breaking off a piece, enjoying, and then breaking off a few more until the bar's finished.

The first item I'd been keen to experiment with for a few weeks, since my birthday afternoon tea, a Peanut Butter and Chocolate Brownie. I found a recipe on BBC Good Food and have adapted it ever so slightly, adding in some coarsely chopped dry roasted nuts for a bit of crunch and added flavour, and a smidgen of booze too.

I used a jar of Whole Earth Crunchy Original Peanut Butter as it has no additives or nasties and I used two 100g bars of Asda Dark Chocolate. Most recipes tell you you must use chocolate of over 70% cocoa solids, however in baking, where chocolate is not the main or only ingredient, this isn't essential by any means. This chocolate is 60% cocoa solids and I can vouch that is did the trick beautifully here.

Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Brownies
225g Crunchy Peanut Butter
280g Light Brown Sugar
200g Dark Chocolate, broken up
3 Medium-Large Eggs
100g Self-raising Flour, sifted
1 tsp Amaretto
50g Dry Roasted Peanuts, coarsely chopped (chop inside baking parchment to avoid mess)

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and line a baking tin with baking parchment and grease with a little butter to avoid sticking.

In a pan, over a low heat melt 180g of the peanut butter, 150g of the chocolate and sugar until it has all melted and formed one consistency.

Turn off the heat, and beat in each egg one-by-one with a wooden spoon then gently stir in the flour.

Add the amaretto and the chopped nuts, mix and then pour into the baking tin.

In a new pan melt the remaining peanut butter and drizzle over the brownie base.

Bake for 30 minutes until the peanut butter on the top forms a crust.

Melt the remaining chocolate and pop in a piping bag (if you don't have one handy just snip a small slit in the corner of a sandwich bag and drizzle chocolate over the brownie and leave to cool.

Leave in the tin to cool and then gently remove and cut into squares ready to eat. These are incredibly tasty and go particularly well with either a dollop of cream or vanilla ice cream.

The second, and equally simple recipe is for Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies. The base for this recipe comes from the Australia Woman's Weekly; The Cake Stall, a book I was kindly sent recently. I will be trying out a recipe or two from each section of the book and then reviewing here. Again I adapted this slightly, mainly in adding in the chocolate, and in my opinion improving the biscuits.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies

125g Butter, softened
70g Peanut Butter
165g Light Brown Sugar
1 Egg
225 Plain Flour, sifted
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
70g Dry Roasted Peanuts, chopped
70g Dark Chocolate, chopped into chunks

Pre-heat the over to 180C and line two baking trays with baking parchment, and grease.

Beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and egg till smooth.

Stir in the sifted flour and baking soda and then the nuts and give a good mix.

Roll a tablespoon of the mixture into a ball and place onto the baking sheet. Repeat placing each cookie at least 5cm apart.

Using a floured fork flatten each ball and bake for 10-12 minutes.

So here are two very easy recipes, both with a delicious outcome using two cupboard staples. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Afternoon Tea on a Budget

Bea's of Bloomsbury
Last week my best friend, Larni and I celebrated becoming another year older (she is a whole three days younger than me) with a week-long marathon of fun and frolics. This tradition began 11 years ago and we are reluctant to give it up. This time around we found that food and alcohol featured highly, as did the fabulous West End show Legally Blonde and yet more alcohol.

We naturally celebrated with our own family and group of friends too, but our first treat, was just for the two of us and just about sums us up together - Champagne Afternoon Tea - in other words an afternoon of cakes and sweet things with a good glug full of bubbles - perfect.

It has to be noted that we were actually planning on doing outdoorsy, sight-seeing activities, mainly visiting the Tower of London, but good old England in June let us down and on the morning as the rain came and came we wondered what to do instead. Afternoon tea was suggested but I was doubtful we would find a slot anywhere, early, being so last-minute, and I didn't want to go for a late sitting as I was booked in to eat at Les Deux Salons on the evening.

As luck would have it, I had noticed a few days previously something on Twitter about Bea's of Bloomsbury doing Afternoon Tea, so I called, and we were in. I've long been a fan of Bea's, having previously worked just off of Theobalds Row, where the original resides, so I was quite keen to try out the newer addition to the family in the new shopping centre at St Pauls, One New Change.

I was delighted to find the decor modern, quirky and stylish. There was a brown theme throughout with the odd splashes of colour, and the ceiling was adorned with various lampshades in the guise of teapots, ingenius.

Many visits to the original had been on seriously stressed out days when only the thought of a coffee cupcake, a cup of tea and a natter with one of the girls could get me through the day, it almost represented a safe haven for a certain trio of friends, and the friendly staff at this branch with the delicious array of cakes was one of the reasons why we often returned.

I was immediately impressed that the owner of this establishment have clearly kept their staff selection skills up to scratch, the waitress who served us was accomodating, friendly and informative. We ordered our tea and informed her that Larni is a vegetarian, and she immediately went off to check if all of the cakes were veggie-friendly and to change the savoury sandwiches of hers to meat-free.

The sandwiches were actually small sections of crusty, white baguette and mine were a chorizo and cream cheese with a little green leaf. They were lovely, the smokey saltiness of the chorizo was complimented perfectly by the cream cheese.

One small complaint that we had was that actually, the meaty sandwiches were side by side with the veggie ones, to the point that one of them was actually touching the other, while this may seem a trifle point, let's face it if it was an allergy we were talking about, those wouldn't have been placed on the same plate at all, and really I don't think this should be treated differently. However as we were laden down with goodies, we ploughed on, I had the offending sandwich and found it didn't offend me in any way. It was a buffalo mozarella with tomato and a basil pesto - the pesto had seeped into the bread a little and given a magnificent flavour. It was like a little sandwich taste of Italy, lovely.

Next was a plain scone, the original, quintessential part of any respectable afternoon tea. It was lovely, buttery, light and crumbly, had a good moist texture and excellent seasoning so as not to be so sweet, which I often find scones can be. These were lovely with our pot of fresh clotted cream and strawberry jam too. They were however rather large, and I only eat half to make sure I had room for all the other goodies.

Two signature cupcakes were included in the tea, and as I've tried a number of these before, I was pleased to see two that I'd yet to try. One was a vanilla cupcake with a cassis topping, beautiful to look at with a pinky-purpley icing. The other was a chocolate base with a pistachio cream finish which was the minty green you would imagine, side by side they looked so pretty, it was almost a shame to crack into them. Somehow we found the strength though! We halved them both so we could try everything, and found that not only did they look good, they tasted great. The icing on both was immense, the kind where you'd happily stick your finger in and eat a little minus the cake. The cupcakes were both light and fluffy and in keeping with my favourite coffee ones of old.

The top layer of our tea was a selection of brownies and marshmallow. The marshmallow were just for me as these contain gelatine, which our friendly waitress kindly informed us of. They were lovely, the stuff of childhood memories, only better.

The final three treats I've deliberately left till the end - brownies. Those who know me will know I'm not a fan of brownies, I find that whenever I'm confronted by one they tend to lack flavour and be quite dry. I have been known to voice my irritation when they seem to always end up on dessert menus these days in some format too. However I will openly admit defeat where neccessary, and after trying this trio of brownies, I can say that I may be fast converting to the brownie-lover brigade.

The first was a Valrhona, or in other words a rich chocolatey affair, which I can vouch was very, very far from dry. The dark chocolate flavour was lovely and for the first time ever, I was left wanting more. The second was a Belgian Blondie, or in other words my favourite flavour of any cake - white chocolate! It was heavenly. I kept awaiting the moment where I could nod to Larni and say 'See this is why I don't like brownies!'. Perhaps it would come with the final treat - a peanut butter brownie - perhaps not. This was actually my surprise dish of the day, it was incredible. Not only was it not dry, it was creamy, it was chewy, it had a glorious nutty flavour running through the almost caramel like texture with chocolate, this was like food heaven. It reminded me a Snickers bar, but a bite size portion in glorious, wonderful cake format and all in one perfect texture.

On top of all of this wonderful confectionary we had a pot of Jing tea, and to mark the occassion of our birthday a glass of Moet & Chandon - we felt it'd be rude not to.

We both thoroughly enjoyed this very English tradition and it has to be said that if anyone is looking to experience a real Afternoon Tea without the expense of The Ritz and the like, this is a top-notch, quality alternative.

We had the Champagne Afternoon Tea which at £22.50 is very cheap for the capital. However if Champagne is not for you then it is only £15 per person for the standard Afternoon Tea - definitely a bargain.

Bea's of Bloomsbury's is a quirky, sophisticated venue with cakes to die for and great service. I'm hoping to see more of these around the capital, and hope they retain their excellent staffing and high quality food.

One final note: if like Larni and myself you enjoy the Champagne Afternoon Tea at Bea's and find that one glass of bubbles is just not enough, copy our style and pop a few doors along to Searcy's where you can enjoy one of their Champagne cocktails. They have daily deals on, but as we were feeling flamboyantly decadent after our fun afternoon we ignored these and went for a Strawberry Bellini and a classic Kir Royale and both were fantastic.

http://www.beasofbloomsbury.com/

http://www.searcys.co.uk/one-new-change-champagne-bar/home/