Brilliant Brownies

These brownies are delicious served with double cream and a dollop of jam!

Sometimes, brownies are the only thing that will save the day from being a total waste of makeup. 

Last Friday, a best bud, had some boyfriend troubles. A classic crisis of confidence over whether or not her darling boyfriend was flirting with another of our best friends, and if so, was his attention wavering, ever since she had 'started the new exercise class instead of being with him for an extra 45 minutes every Tuesday evening?!'.
Evidently, shit was getting serious. 
But not wasting a baking opportunity, I decided, what she needed was a quick whip up batch of freshly-made home-made brownies and a good chin-wag to reassure her, that he was not, and that his eyes were firmly and unwaveringly placed on her beautiful smile and bikini-ready body.

I used a recipe of my mama Paris's,  who knows where she found it! But wherever she did, this recipe is a fail-proof, fool-proof recipe for squidgy and delicious brownie squares and big smiles :D

RECIPE FOR WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP RASPBERRY BROWNIES WITH CREAM CHEESE 

You will need;
-185g of dark chocolate (70% or over - you want it to be rich and sexy)
-185g of unsalted butter
-40g cocoa powder
-85g of plain flour
-3 eggs
-275g of golden caster sugar
-100 grams white chocolate chips (or more depending on your love for chocolate)
-15 raspberries (or more)
-Some cream cheese (about three tablespoons)
-Some raspberry jam (about three tablespoons)
-some pistachios or any other nut (optional)
-baking paper

METHOD;
1) Cut 185g unsalted butter into smallish cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break 185g best dark chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl. Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them. Now remove the bowl from the pan. Alternatively, cover the bowl loosely with cling film and put in the microwave for 2 minutes on High. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.
2)While waiting for the chocolate to cool, position a shelf in the middle of your oven and turn the oven on to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4 Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking paper to line the base. 
3)Now tip 85g plain flour and 40g cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl
4)Break 3 large eggs into a large bowl and tip in 275g golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until they look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes, depending on how powerful your mixer is, so don't lose heart. You'll know it's ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you're there.
5) Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. Continue till the two mixtures are mixed through. The idea is to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as you like - you don't want to undo all the work you did in step 4.
6) Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly. Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of eight action as before. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, and a bit unpromising, but if you keep going very gently and patiently, it will end up looking gungy and fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don't want to overdo this mixing.
7) Stir in the chocolate chips and raspberries (and optional nuts)
8) Pour half of mixture into prepared tin and flatten mixture
9) Dribble and spread the cream cheese and jam on the top of the mixture
10) Pour the rest of mixture into tin

Bake for 25 minutes or so, until the top is nice and shiny with a papery crust, and the corners are coming away from the edges. Take the tin out of the oven, but leave to cool in tin till completely cold. Finally cut into quarters and ENJOY! (P.s These brownies can keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container, if they last that long!)

And gosh, these are good. No, not good, mind-numbingly, toe-tingling, damn right orgasmic -- a true chocoholic's fantasy ;) (Even if I do say so myself!) After a couple of squares, boyfriend troubles were a momentarily forgotten, and my friend was feeling a darn-sight more ready to face the day, and another exercise class!