Marcus Bean's dark chocolate brownies
January is over, and we are celebrating with the ultimate indulgent sweet treat! Marcus Bean is in the kitchen serving us his dark chocolate brownies with delicious salted caramel sauce. Goodbye to drab and dreary January, hello Feel-good February!
Dark chocolate brownie with salted caramel sauce
Makes 10 brownie pieces and 1 small jar of sauce
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing250g dark chocolate, ideally about 54.5% cocoa solids4 medium/large eggs 260g caster sugar 160g gluten free plain flour or regular plain flour 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract
For the salted caramel sauce: 250g caster sugar25ml water150g salted butter150ml double cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160℃ Fan. Grease and line a 30 x 20 x 4cm baking tin with parchment paper.
2. Place the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl and sit it on a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the pan doesn’t touch the water. Leave the chocolate and butter to melt slowly, stirring occasionally.
3. In a separate bowl, add the eggs, sugar and vanilla, and whisk by hand until combined - do not use an electric whisk.
4. When the chocolate and butter have melted together, take the bowl off the pan and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Slowly pour in the egg and sugar mixture, and whisk together to combine, then add the flour and whisk together.
5. Pour the brownie batter into the lined baking tin and cook in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes - it will still be soft in the middle at first but don’t panic, it will be perfect once cooled. Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool then place in the fridge overnight.
6. To make the salted caramel sauce, place the sugar and water in a pan over a medium high heat. Bring up to the boil without stirring.
7. When the mixture turns a deep golden brown, carefully add the butter and stir to combine.
8. Reduce the heat once the butter is mixed in and add the double cream. Mix and allow to cool slightly.
9. Cut the brownies into 10 portions and gently warm in a low oven or serve cold with the salted caramel sauce - it’s delicious either way.
10. Any remaining sauce can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for about 2 weeks