A really good chocolate brownie

My go-to recipe that's stood the test of time

Everyone needs a killer chocolate brownie recipe in their repertoire

Here’s how these brownies came to be.

A long time ago, in a country far away (OK, Scotland) I got a job cooking in a city farm café.

After graduating slap-bang in the middle of a recession, I’d ended up in Edinburgh following a few years of working seasonal jobs abroad and generally messing around (including a summer spent in the French Alps, living in a converted Renault Traffic – but that’s a story for another day). I knew I loved food and cooking but had little idea of what else to do with my life, and with decent graduate jobs in short supply, I accepted a role as a cook at Gorgie City Farm earning little above minimum wage.

A much younger, probably hungover me, making a cake in the tiny kitchen at Gorgie City Farm in Edinburgh

My responsibilities included making endless rounds of bacon and lorne sausage rolls, especially on match days, when the Hearts fans would stream in from the ground opposite (lorne sausages are square sausages, for the uninitiated), frying several thousand plates of chips for hungry kids, and lamenting the lack of dishwasher. But my favourite job – this was peak Bake Off era – was making all the cakes.

These brownies are dense, chocolatey, fudgy and very rich

I honed my recipes, including the most popular, chocolate brownies. I started writing them down, and then publishing them online (remember Blogspot?!). I realised I loved writing about food. I started saving up my holiday allowance to go to London and complete unpaid internships at food magazines.

Eventually, I left Edinburgh and made it to London permanently, getting my first break working for Jamie Oliver. Gorgie Farm, sadly, is no more, but the brownies have endured. I was reminded of them the other day when a friend asked me for the recipe and we tracked it down in a dusty corner of the internet. “Every time I make these for people, they say they’re the best brownies they’ve ever had” he texted a few days later.

Back in the real world, this Monday I started the week feeling completely zapped of energy. Is there a five-month lull when it comes to looking after babies when the adrenaline starts to wear off, I wonder? It felt like a week for brownies. They were as good as I remembered – fudgy, dark, dense and very chocolatey. With lots of bank holidays and celebrations on the horizon, maybe a good brownie recipe will come in handy for you too. If not, never fear, the usual quick dinner ideas will be back next week.

The texture inside is super squidgy. Side note: thank you to Yoko and Mary at Wild Beauty for sorting out my nails this week

Chocolate brownies

Be sure not to overmix the batter – a few flecks of flour is fine. This is the secret to a brownie’s fudgy texture.
Makes 16

• 200g dark chocolate

• 250g salted butter

• 100g white chocolate, chopped into small chunks

• 350g caster sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 4 large eggs

• 50g cocoa powder

• 100g plain flour

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan and line a 20cm x 30cm cake tin with baking parchment. 

2. Melt the butter and dark chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring. Set aside. 

3. Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence with an electric whisk until thick, and like a milkshake in consistency – this can take 3-4 minutes.

4. Gently fold the melted chocolate into the eggs using a plastic spatula. 

5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Very gently fold this into the mixture, being careful not to overwork it. Just before you think you're finished, stir in the white chocolate. 

6. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 15 minutes. When the top is just starting to form a papery crust, cover the brownie with tin foil and return to the oven for a further 15-18 minutes. The brownie should be just firm to the touch but not yet cooked all the way through. 

7. Allow to cool completely then put in the fridge overnight before slicing into 16 squares. For a clean cut, dip the knife into just-boiled water then wipe dry with kitchen paper before slicing.
   
   

Switch it up

You could swirl through caramel, peanut butter or tahini into the brownie batter before baking or add nuts or a handful of sour cherries instead of the white chocolate.

PS This week I’m loving…

Two favourite bits of kitchen kit: I have several Pallares Solsona knives. They’re handmade in Spain by a century-old producer, with steel blades and boxwood handles – excellent-quality for the price. And this tiny silicone spatula is one of my most-used tools. I ordered it by accident thinking it would be a full size one, but it’s proved very useful for getting every scrap of mixture out of the bowl, peanut butter out of the jar etc. It’s also great for making scrambled eggs.