Chocolate Brownies with Strawberry Sauce
Brownies:
90g good quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
150g butter
125g plain flour
15g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 pinches salt
2 eggs
300g soft light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g pistachio nuts, chopped
Strawberry Sauce:
1 punnet (about 300g) strawberries, hulled
Chocolate Sauce:
150 g good quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
25 g butter
200 ml double cream
1. Grease and line a 15cm x 20cm baking tray. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.
2. For the Brownies: Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally. Take off the heat when melted and set aside to cool.
3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together into a separate bowl.
4. In a third, large bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla extract.
5. Fold the cooled, melted chocolate mixture in to the beaten egg mixture, then fold in the flour mixture and the pistachio nuts until well combined.
6. Pour into the prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until firm around the edges but still soft in the centre.
7. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
8. For the Strawberry Sauce: Tip the strawberries into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. For an extra smooth sauce, pass through a sieve to remove the seeds. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.
9. For the Chocolate Sauce: Tip all the ingredients into a small saucepan and heat gently over a low heat until melted, stirring constantly. Keep warm until ready to serve.
10. Serve the brownies drizzled with the warm chocolate sauce and the strawberry sauce.