After-dinner brownies
‘This brownie is what I make when people are coming round for dinner and a proper pudding seems too formal. You can make it with any mint chocolate, but something like Aero, with its bubbly green interior, looks most effective. Serve small squares straight from the fridge along with coffee, and don’t invite anyone back who claims not to like mint chocolate. They clearly still have some growing up to do.’
MAKES 16 small brownies
● 200g unsalted butter, chopped into rough cubes, plus extra to grease
● 200g mint Aero chocolate or similar (plus extra to decorate the top, if you like)
● 250g dark chocolate (around 70% cocoa solids), roughly broken into pieces
● 250g caster sugar
● 3 large eggs
● 1/2-1tsp peppermint essence
● 80g plain flour
● 40g cocoa powder
1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Grease a 20cm square tin with a little butter and line with baking parchment. Break or chop the Aero into unevenly sized chunks – I like to make mine quite big, around 3cm. Leave to one side.
2 Put the butter and dark chocolate in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring regularly, until melted, then take off the heat. Stir in the sugar and leave to cool until only just warm – this is important, or I am afraid your mint chocolate chunks will melt in an unappetising, Shrek-coloured mess.
3 Add the eggs and stir in the peppermint essence. (Essences vary in strength, so start with the smaller amount if you have a strong one, or if you don’t want your minty flavour to be too intense.)
4 Beat using a handheld electric whisk, on medium speed, for about 2min, until smoother and a little thicker (you can use a normal balloon whisk if you prefer, but give it another min or so).
5 Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and 1/2tsp salt, then fold gently to combine. Taste and add a little more peppermint essence, if you like. Mix in two-thirds of the Aero chunks, keeping back a third to press on top. Transfer mixture to your prepared tin, getting it right to the edges, and scatter the remaining Aero chunks on top, pressing in very gently with your fingers. I usually angle the chunks on their side, so you can see the green interior.
6 Bake for 25-30min, until set on top. Let it cool completely before slicing. I like these best when served straight from the fridge.