I love all brownies, as I do love all chocolate, but these little gems are a thing of beauty. Dark chocolate in the brownies, dark chocolate in the frosting, and a sweet, rich caramel glaze. The perfect symphony of flavours. Although these are a chocolate lover's dream, I have to add that the strong chocolate flavour is very prominent, as the recipe uses dark cocoa powder and dark chocolate (70%). So slice them up into small pieces and serve with a tall glass of cold milk, or a hot cup of coffee.
Ingredients
For the brownies
150 grams butter
30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
100 grams sugar
2 eggs
60 grams plain flour
2 tablespoons powdered milk
1 teaspoon powdered vanilla
100 grams dark chocolate, chopped roughly
For the Ganache frosting
100 grams dark chocolate, chopped finely
8 tablespoons double cream
For the topping
4 tablespoons caramel sauce
Preparation
Dice the butter into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place it over medium heat, sift in the cocoa powder and keep whisking until everything melts and blends well. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the sugar. Mix for a few seconds until the sugar starts to dissolve, then add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each. It is perfectly fine if it looks a bit grainy when you add the sugar, it will become smooth and glossy as soon as you mix in the second egg.
Finally, sift in flour, powdered milk and vanilla, add the chopped chocolate, and gently fold everything in the batter until only combined. Do not overmix. Grease (or line) a small baking pan (16x16 cm; 6x6-inch), pour in the batter and bake in a preheated oven, at 170˚C (340˚F), for about 15-20 minutes. Check it with a toothpick, just to make sure the brownies do not overbake. Let them cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then remove them and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the frosting, chop up the chocolate and place it into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Pour over the double cream and place the saucepan on medium high heat. Keep stirring and melting until the chocolate and cream are combined. The Ganache will be smooth and runny at this point. Let it cool almost completely; the cooler the frosting is, the easier it will be to frost and serve the brownies. Once everything is ready, place the baked and cooled brownie on the serving plate, frost it with cooled Ganache and generously drizzle the top with caramel sauce. Cut it into 12 or 16 small pieces and serve.
