Summer's been and gone, the nights are drawing in and winter's on its way - you'd be forgiven for feeling a little glum about things right now. But what October lacks in warm weather, it more than makes up for in awareness weeks, specifically National Chocolate Week and National Baking Week, both of which take place from October 14th-19th.
With that in mind, we set out to find the perfect do-try-this-at-home chocolate and coffee recipe to help raise the nation's spirits. And we think we've found it!
Ingredients
This simple recipe makes 16 decadent, grown-up brownies.
For the brownies, you will need:
185g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
185g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
1 tsp ground coffee or espresso, mixed with 1 tbsp water
16 chocolate balls or truffles with soft centres - dark, white or milk chocolate or coffee-flavoured
For the espresso martini sauce, you will need:
60ml freshly brewed very strong coffee or two shots of espresso
3 tbsp golden caster sugar
150ml double cream
½ tbsp cornflour
30ml vodka
Method
First, tip the butter into a heatproof bowl with the dark chocolate, then fill a small pan about a quarter full with boiling water and sit the bowl on top ensuring it doesn't touch the water. Put the pan on the hob over a low heat and stir occasionally until the butter and chocolate have melted. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.
Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a shallow 20cm square brownie tin with non-stick baking paper. Combine the eggs and sugar using an electric whisk until they are creamy and doubled in volume - this may take as long as 7-8 minutes depending on the power of your whisk. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the combined eggs and sugar, then gently fold together with a spatula until the two mixtures combine and the colour is a dark brown. Try not to knock the air out of the mixture as this will prevent the brownies from rising properly.
Sieve the flour and cocoa over the chocolate and egg mixture along with a generous pinch of salt. Gently fold the powder into the mixture along with the espresso and water. Mix until it resembles fudge then pour into the tin and use a spatula to ensure an even, level topping. Push the chocolate balls into the brownie at regular intervals.
Put the brownie mix into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the top develops a shiny crust and the sides begin to come away from the tin. Remove from the oven.
To make the sauce, heat the coffee and caster sugar together to dissolve the sugar. Mix a little of the double cream with the cornflour then add to the pan with the remaining cream. Bring to a simmer and stir over a medium heat until it thickens. Add the vodka then turn off the heat. Serve each square of brownie with the sauce poured over.
Why not use our coffee in the recipe?
At Cafe2U, we use only the finest quality coffee and it's perfect for use in a recipe such as this. Find your nearest Cafe2U van here and let us bring some direct to your door!