Rich Fudge Brownies

As Small World is directly across the street from one of Amsterdam’s renowned coffee shops, brownies come to mind as an obvious offering. There are so many kinds of brownies out there. But we make a rich fudge brownie that has actually become famous in town and has even been sent all over the world. The high sugar content makes sure that the brownies keep well. They freeze perfectly and they are dynamite served slightly warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Makes 20.

Ingredients

270 g (9 ½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

2 teaspoons fine salt

450 g (1 lb) unsalted butter

260 g (9 ¼ oz) dark chocolate (70%-85%)

800 g (1 lb 12 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 eggs

For the glaze

400 g (14 oz) dark chocolate (70%-85%)

125 ml (4 fl oz) double (thick) cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Sift flour and salt together into a medium-size bowl and set aside. In a double boiler (bain-marie), melt the butter and 260 g (9 ¼ oz) chocolate. Chocolate is very sensitive, so make sure not to over-heat it. Add half the sugar and the vanilla extract, and mix together. In a kitchen mixer, beat the eggs and remaining sugar for 1 minute on high, then add to the chocolate mixture. Mix together until you have a thick, glossy, chocolatey batter.

Grease the sides and bottom of a 23x33 cm (9x13 inch) brownie tin and line with baking paper. Pour the batter into the tin, then bang the tin a few times on the counter to release any air bubbles. Place the tin in the middle of the oven, and bake for 35 minutes. It’s difficult to gauge the doneness of these brownies since they should be gooey in the centre. So have faith, and leave them to cool and set. When completely cooled, flip the tin over so that the flat bottom is now the top. Gently peel away the baking paper. This is easier to do if you’ve refrigerated the brownies for a few hours.

To make the glaze, melt the chocolate in a double boiler until just melted, and remove from heat. Gently and slowly fold in the cream without over mixing. Now you need to work more quickly, to make sure the glazing doesn’t harden too soon. Pour the glaze into the centre of the top of the brownies, and work it out to the edges with a spatula. With any residual drips, seal the sides. Allow to cool, and slice into pieces.