chococlate brownies (gluten free)

Ingredients

185g milk chocolate (good quality)

185g butter

90g Plain Flour - a gluten free flour blend works just as well

40g Cocoa Powder

3 medium free-range eggs

185g soft light brown sugar (golden caster sugar works well too)

50g dark chocolate (70% minimum cocoa solids)

50g white chocolate

Method

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4.

Line the base of a large roasting tin or deep baking tray with parchment.

Break the milk chocolate up into smaller pieces and place them into a heatproof dish, over a pan of simmering water - this arrangement is commonly known as a bain marie.  Add the butter to the chocolate and leave to melt.  This should take 5 minutes or so.

Whilst the chocolate is melting break the eggs into a separate bowl and add the sugar.  Whisk until the mixture is pale in colour and around twice the size.  It is easier to achieve this consistency with an electric mixer as it can take some time by hand.

Once the chocolate in the bain marie has melted, stir together with the butter.  This creates a wonderfully glossy chocolate.  Pour the chocolate into the egg and sugar mixture and fold to combine.  Be careful as you fold as you don't want to knock out the air that has already been whisked into the eggs.

Sieve the flour and cocoa into the mixture, a little at a time, and fold until completely combined.  Flour and cocoa have a nasty habit of creating little pockets of themselves and not mixing in so you may wish to use a spatula, running it along the sides and bottom of the bowl to check for pockets!

Once all of this is mixed together you should have a wondefully thick, glossy mixture.  Chop up the white and dark chocolate into chunks (like the picture).  These will melt slightly in the mixture but will mainly add variety to the texture of the final brownie.  You could also add some chopped nuts, like macadamia, pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts if you wish.

Once everything has mixed in, pour the mixture into the prepared tin and place on the top shelf of the oven for 30minutes. 

When you remove the brownies from the oven the top should be crisp and the inside gooey.  Don't worry if you think they are undercooked, they are probably fine.

Leave the brownies to cool completely in the tin before removing and cutting up into portions.

Sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.  Yummy!!