"Death by Chocolate Raspberry & Orange Brownies"

Makes 24 brownies

Diet Tip!!! Freeze some of the brownies individually, to ration them out and limit the amount you eat at once.

Serving Suggestions: Eat on their own, with fruit, sorbet, frozen yoghurt, or for the ultimate Ben & Jerry’s style treat, use chunks of brownie as part of a sundae, to homemade ice cream recipes.

INGREDIENTS
200g dark chocolate (85% minimum cocoa solids), broken into chunks

100g milk chocolate, broken into chunks

250g unsalted butter

400g soft brown sugar

140g wholemeal plain flour

50g cocoa powder (raw cacao powder for healthier results)

400g fresh raspberries

The rind of 1 large orange

YOU WILL NEED

An oven

A stove

Baking tray (20cm by 30cm, at least 3cm deep)

Greaseproof paper

Wooden spoon

Large saucepan

Hand whisk

Knife

Sieve

METHOD

1.      Heat oven to 180°c (or 160°c for a fan assisted oven) or Gas Mark 4.

2.      Line the baking tray with greaseproof paper.

3.      Put the chocolate, orange rind, butter and sugar in the pan and melt on a gentle heat setting.
Stir occasionally with wooden spoon.
Remove from heat when chocolate has melted.

4.      Stir the eggs into the melted chocolate mixture, one by one, with a whisk.

5.      Sieve the flour and cocoa into the mix and whisk in.
6.      Whisk in half the raspberries

7.      Scrape the mix into the lined baking tray.

8.      Scatter the rest of raspberries over the mix.

9.      Bake on the middle shelf for 30 minutes. The mix will still be gooey, but should be cooked on the top and firm to the touch. If it isn’t yet done, keep checking on it every 5 minutes. (Mine took 45 minutes total)

10.      Cool for a few hours or overnight if possible, before slicing into squares (around 5cm by 5cm). Wipe the knife between each cut to get clean edges on your brownies.
The brownies are very rich so smaller squares are better, it’ll also help you control how much you eat, as these are strictly treats!

STORAGE

The brownies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

FREEZING

To limit the number of brownies you can eat, or save them for a special occasion, they can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

1.      Either freeze the brownies individually, if you just want to take one or two out on days when you feel like you need a pick me up treat, or freeze the entire baked slab, with the greaseproof paper still attached for additional support.

2.      Wrap the brownies in double layers of clingfilm, and make sure they don’t get squashed before they are fully frozen.

3.      When you are ready to use the brownies, unwrap them and let them stand at room temperature for 3-4 hours before cutting up.