Rose and raspberry brownies
MAKES 16 BARS OR 24 SMALLER SQUARES
300g unsalted butter, diced
400g caster sugar
100g soft brown sugar
70g cocoa powder
70g dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher), roughly chopped into pieces
4 eggs
Ingredients
140g plain flour
½ tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp rose water
100g Turkish delight
Flaky sea salt to top
30g freeze-dried raspberries
Crystallised rose petals to finish, optional
METHOD
1 Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. Grease and line an 8in x 12in baking tin with baking paper.
2 In a saucepan, weigh out the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder and dark chocolate (in that order). Place over a low heat, and leave for 5-10 minutes. The butter will melt at the bottom of the pan and should start to envelop the other ingredients. After 5 minutes, give it a stir with a whisk to encourage it to come together and help the chocolate melt. Once melted, remove from the heat – don’t worry if there is still graininess from the sugar.
3 Crack the eggs directly into the pan, then whisk together quickly. After a few seconds, you should find the mixture combines and becomes glossy and shiny. Add the flour, salt and rose water and whisk just enough to combine. Make sure you get into the corners of the pan with the whisk to catch any pockets of flour that haven’t been mixed through. Pour into your lined tin. If you need to help the brownie batter get into the corners of your tin, tilt the tin to encourage the mixture to find the edges.
4 Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. The brownies are ready when they no longer wobble when lightly shaken and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with just a few wet crumbs.
5 When the brownies are out of the oven but still hot, dice the Turkish delight so you have roughly 1cm x 1cm chunks. Scatter them over the brownies as evenly as you can, along with the flaky sea salt. Next, scatter the raspberries and a handful of crystallised rose petals over the surface. Gently, push the toppings into the baked brownies so they are still visible but you have a flat surface.
6 Allow to cool completely at room temperature in the tin, then put in the fridge for 1 hour before slicing. This will help you get clean edges when you slice into portions.