I used to pop by Baker and Spice cafe in Chelsea every morning on my way to Daphne’s restaurant where I worked many years ago. I loved having a quick peek through the kitchen glass window. You could see bakers running round in the kitchen pushing hard to deliver most delicious, artisan products.
Occasionally I would stop for a chat with the head chef and routinely tried some off-cuts. This incredible chef was Dan Lepard and his brownie was a complete new level of decadence. His surprisingly simple recipe, written on a back of a till receipt is still one of my biggest treasures…
To give an Easter feel we’ve added some mini Cadbury’s creme eggs – a cheeky addition for adults and kids alike…
Ingredients:
- 120g unsalted butter softened
- 250g caster sugar
- 2 eggs + 2 egg yolk
- 210g good quality 70% chocolate melted
- 160g plain flour +30g for cheese mixture
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 20 mini creme eggs (can be substituted for hazelnuts or pecans)
- zest of 1 orange
- 300g softened cream cheese
- icing sugar for sprinkling
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 deg C . Line a buttered 23cm square tin with greaseproof baking paper.
Mix together soft cheese and egg yolk, followed by 30g of plain flour and orange zest. Leave on side.
Cream butter with sugar and then slowly add 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in melted chocolate.
Sift 160g of flour, baking powder and salt together and gently fold into the chocolate mix.
Pour the brownie mixture into the tin and swirl in the cheese mix gently pressing it over the surface with the back of a spoon. Then press in some whole mini creme eggs.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until skewer inserted near the centre come out warm at the tip with some sticky crumbs clinging to it. Make sure you do not overcook! It is better to err on the underdone side than serve a dry chocolate sponge.
Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into 16 squares and dusting with sugar.