Jamie Oliver 15 Brownies

I missed last Sunday.  I was invited to a traditional British Sunday roast, served mid-day.  A Brit I met with a babe the same age as mine invited the hubby and me.  And as a British-Sunday-roast-virgin, I quite enjoyed it!  First, it's perfect for moms who need to get babies to bed for 7.  Second, the spread was unbelievable.  Roast beef, potatoes, beans, parsnips, cheesy cauliflower, broccoli and Yorkshire pudding.  Oh my!  And the parsnips changed my life, well in a parsnip-lover sort of way.  I thought they were French fries - swear to god!  Just brilliant.  I'll be getting that recipe.  She said the main tip was to remove the center core because it's bitter.  Anyhoo...

And now on to brownies.  Oh yummy, yummy brownies.  

I decided to do dessert this week because the hubs made Schezuan beef for dinner and who in their right mind turns down an opportunity to put their feet up with a glass of vino?  Not this gal.  Also I wanted to stock my freezer with brownies.  This is a trick I accidentally learned a few winters ago.  I was considering consuming an entire tray of brownies when I came up with the brilliant idea of freezing them.  I froze two brownies per Ziploc bag, which was the perfect amount as I could always unfreeze two bags for company.  And they're actually delish when eaten frozen.  Especially these ones as the recipe calls for gooey centers. 

Enough babble.  Time for the recipe.

The recipe is from Jamie Oliver's Cook with Jamie.  It's from his restaurant Fifteen in London, so I suppose its a British theme this Sunday!

250 g/9 oz. unsalted butter
200 g/7 oz. best-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa),
broken up
150 g/ 5.5 oz. chopped nuts
80 g/2 3/4 oz. cocoa powder, sifted
65 g/2 1/4 oz. plain flour, sifted
1 t. baking powder
350 g/12.5 oz. superfine sugar
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a 12" rectangular baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add nuts, if you're using them, and stir together. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate mixture.  Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. you don't want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don't want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares.

Jamie's tip to use wax paper is brilliant.  I've never had my brownies come out of the pan so well.  See below.

Enjoy and thanks for eating with me!