Brownies

This is pure indulgence :-) I love making these! I got the original recipe (and, I find, the best recipe so far) for these Bloomin' Brilliant Brownies from Jamie Oliver's Little Book of Big Treats written for Comic Relief a couple of years back with a few edits/addition


Ingredients

• 250g of unsalted butter
• 200g of dark broken up chocolate
• 50g of chocolate drops
• 80g cocoa powder
• 65g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 360g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• Remember - organic/fairtrade/free-range/available etc etc etc for the above :-)

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Line a baking tin (mines about 9' by 12' and about half an inch deep) with greaseproof paper. Put a bowl over a pan of boiling water and melt the chocolate and the butter together, stirring until it's smooth. Stir in the chocolate drops, but a small handfull for later. (Tip: My Greataunt said if you put the chocolate in a pan with a dash of milk on a medium to low heat, it shouldn't burn/stick. It's worked so far...)
In another bowl, sift in the cococa, flour and baking power, add in the sugar and mix well, then stir it into the chocolate mixture, stirring well. Beat the four eggs and mix it in until its silky.
Pour the mixture into the baking tray (scrape well with a spatula - waste not!), smooth it over and sprinkle on the rest of the chocolate drops and place in the oven for around 20-25 minutes (I've got a fan oven, so I put it in for about 20, take them out and let it cook in its own heat then let it cool down).Erm, they shouldn't be cooked to the point that a skewer comes out clean, and the should be a little springy.Let them cool down, transfer to a cutting board, then cut them to appropriate sizes.
And, er, enjoy :-)