Mostly About Chocolate Blog

My husband loves coffee and yet doesn’t like my brownies because they are too rich. If you’ve tried the brownie recipe I use from Green & Blacks, you’ll know why 😉 So I tried this quick and easy recipe and it was perfect for him though I had to change the recipe and the directions and so really, had to create a new recipe. These espresso brownies are super easy to make and are quick if you use the cupcake method (they cook more quickly). There’s an amazing new coffee spread like chocolate spread only with coffee. That smeared on top of these brownie is crazy but perfect for a coffee lover.

For the chocolate pros out there – Divine is the most ethical to use. Use a Madagascar or Dominican Republic chocolate to calm the earthiness of the espresso or use a robust chocolate like a Marou or Hotel Chocolat Vietnamese to bring out more of the deep coffee notes. If you use 85% or above, remember to adjust the fat and sugar up slightly based around percentages.

For confident bakers – I’ve also tried this with white sugar which makes it a lighter colour slightly but you lose some of the flavour. It works perfectly well. Muscovado sugar is too strong for this and can result in a burnt flavour even when they aren’t burnt.

 
Ingredients:
200 g 70% dark chocolate like Green & Blacks, Divine or Chocolat Madagascar
150 g butter
150 g brown sugar
80 ml heavy cream
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons instant espresso
30 g flour

Method:

1. Preheat oven up to 190C. Place paper cups in a muffin tin or line a square baking pan with greaseproof paper.  The pan should be 20 x 20 cm roughly for the amount of batter we’re making.

2. Pour water in to a pan for your double boiler (ban marie) and bring to a simmer. When the water comes to the fisheye stage, put the bowl of chopped chocolate on top so the bowl is not in contact with water. Melt the chocolate slowly and then add the room temperature butter and mix and melt them together. Cold butter just takes longer to melt so be careful as you melt them together.

3. In a separate double boiler, warm the cream slowly, add the instant espresso and stir until it is completely dissolved then remove from heat. Or zap in the microwave until warm enough to dissolve the espresso powder. Or add a drop of boiling water to the powder, mix until a paste and add to the chocolate mix (if you try to add to cream when cold it won’t work).

4. Pour the vanilla extract into the cream and whisk gently. Now mix the cream into the butter and chocolate carefully while both are still warm. Set aside to cool slightly.

5. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and sugar together.  Once the mixture coats the back of a spoon, beat in the cooled chocolate mixture.  Sift in flour and stir thoroughly before pouring into the dish or muffin cups.

6. Put in the oven bake for 15 minutes if you want it to be a little soft in the middle. Bake about 20-25 minutes, if you want a cakey brownie but be careful as these are dark so can burn without you seeing it.