My latest baking venture: Chocolate brownies

After having lots of baking items for my birthday, I decided to make some chocolate brownies last weekend as a surprise for my boyfriend. I've been meaning to do some baking for a while as I haven't made anything since my Valentine shortbread, and our second anniversary gave me the perfect opportunity. Neil bought me the Mary Berry 100 Cakes and Bakes book for my birthday, so I stole the chocolate brownie recipe from there. You can buy the book here, and the recipe is on page 55. I had to adapt the quantities in the recipe slightly as I used a smaller baking tray, but the brownies turned out absolutely perfectly.

The finished product!

Ingredients

For a 30 x 23 x 4cm baking tray:

275g butter (softened)

375g caster sugar

4 large eggs

75g cocoa powder

100g self-raising flour

100g plain chocolate chips

The tray I used was approximately a third smaller than the one stated above, so I decreased the proportions accordingly.

Method

The method really couldn't be simpler!

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/gas 4.

2. Cut a rectangle of non-stick baking parchment to the fit the base and sides of the tin. Grease the tin and line it with the paper.

3. Measure all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix with a hand-held electric mixer until evenly blended. This gave me a great chance to use the mixer I received for my birthday! The mixing process was absolutely effortless with this little beauty.

4. Try not to eat too much of the mixture, and try not to splash any of it on the cable, worktop and items nearby. I failed miserably on this step on all counts... I'm sure Mary Berry is much more disciplined than I am. 

5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, then spread the mixture gently to the corners of the tin and level the surface with the back of a spatula. 

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the brownies have a crusty top and a skewer inserted into the centre comes clean. Cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes if the mixture is browning too much. 40 minutes was long enough for my brownies, but it will depend on your oven and the size of the tin you've used.

The top was pretty crumbly as you can see, but still delicious!

This was definitely my most successful baking venture so far. The brownies were perfectly moist, and the top  didn't crust too much. They smelt absolutely heavenly, and I had to take some into work to make sure I didn't eat the whole lot myself! The chocolate chips I used were amazing too, which proves that it's definitely worth splashing out on a more expensive bag rather than buying the cheaper brand. I learnt this lesson when I made my chocolate chip shortbread. 

What shall I make next? Suggestions/recipes would be very welcome!