I have been making brownies for ages, they are without doubt entirely sinful. What could be more evil or delicious than a combination of butter chocolate and sugar?
They are from America and like many American recipes they have an overload of flavour, in this case sweetness,but these are all the better for it,I wouldn’t change a thing in the recipe.

I don’t make them so much any more, It must be fairly obvious why if you look at the ingredients and the contours of my belly.

The version I used to use most in the restaurant is one for Dark Chocolate and Walnut Brownies. This still gets made in the Dwyer household at Christmas as an alternative to Pudding and, despite the stuffing of turkey et al it rarely lasts beyond Stephens day.

This is the recipe scaled down for normal families:

Dark Chocolate and Walnut Brownies

175g (6 oz.) Butter
175g (6 oz.) Dark Chocolate
3 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
225g (8 oz..) Caster Sugar
110g (4 oz.) Plain Flour
110g (4 oz.) Roughly Chopped Walnuts

Pre heat the oven to 175C, 350F,Gas 4

Line a deep swiss roll tin with tin foil.and paint with melted butter.
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large bowl in the microwave at medium or over a pan of simmering water.
Beat the eggs,vanilla and sugar together until well blended and stir into the chocolate.Sprinkle in the flour, and the nuts and then stir well together.
Pour this out into the baking tin.
Bake for 25 mts at the set temperature.
They should look baked and be dry to the touch but still dark and moist in the middle. Better take them out too soon than when they will have dried out.
They will continue to cook as they cool.

Eat warm with ice cream .

Our friend Petra (she with the obtrusive finger, who looks well in pink) gave Síle a present of a cake for her birthday last week which was a terrific variation of the brownie, and, as she has permitted I can share this with you here:

Two-tone Fudge Brownie Cake

Brown Chocolate Mixture

60 g unsalted butter
100 g dark chocolate, broken
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain flour
vanilla essence

White Chocolate Mixture

60 g unsalted butter
100 g white chocolate (buttons)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain flour

1.
Preheat oven to moderate 180°C. Line a smallish cake tin with non-stick baking paper.

2.
To make brown chocolate mixture:
Stir the butter and dark chocolate in a small heatproof bowl, over a pan of simmering water, until just melted.
Beat the sugar, vanilla essence and egg in a medium bowl until combined. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the sifted flour.

3.
To make the white chocolate mixture:
Stir the butter and white chocolate in a small heatproof bowl, over a pan of simmering water, until just melted.
Beat the sugar, vanilla essence and egg in a medium bowl until combined. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the sifted flour.

4.
Ladle the mixtures into the tin (I put in the black first and the white on top, then swirled the two a bit with a fork).
Bake until just firm and allow to cool in the tin. Sprinkle with icing sugar if you like; I didn’t.

This was so good I got inspired to try another variation myself.

I have two of my daughters coming home tonight and this always spurs me to try and show off with some new dish for them. As Deirdre had already hogged the main course by insisting on making Nigella’s Mushroom Stroganoff I had to go for a dessert.
We have some rhubarb growing in the back garden so that had to be part of it (the truth of the matter is that I rescued one stalk from the slugs but that had to be celebrated)
I have been experimenting with Rhubarb this spring and at last have I think hit the perfect formula for a compote.

This is it:

Compote of Rhubarb with Red Wine and Vanilla

1 Bunch Rhubarb
225g (8oz.) Caster Sugar
300ml (½ pint ) Water
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Glass White Wine.

Put the sugar water wine and vanilla into a pot and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Chop the Rhubarb into ½ inch cubes and toss it into the pot.
Cook these together for just a few minutes, watching like a hawk. The aim is to make the rhubarb tender but not to let it go to mush. I have discovered that it is best if you take it off the heat slightly al dente and pour it into a cool bowl.

With this, my combination of brownie recipes would I think just be perfect and so I give you –

White Chocolate and Pistachio Brownies

175g (6 oz.) Butter
175g (6 oz.) Good White Chocolate
3 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
225g (8 oz..) Caster Sugar
110g (4 oz.) Plain Flour
110g (4 oz.) Chopped Pistachios

Pre heat the oven to 175C, 350F,Gas 4

Line a deep swiss roll tin with tin foil.and paint with melted butter.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large bowl in the microwave at medium or over a pan of simmering water.
Beat the eggs,vanilla and sugar together until well blended and stir into the chocolate.Sprinkle in the flour, the nuts and the salt and then stir well together.
Pour this out into the baking tin.
Bake for 30 mts at the set temperature.
They should look baked and be dry to the touch but still dark and moist in the middle. Better take them out too soon than when they will have dried out.
They will continue to cook as they cool.