Plum + Hazelnut Brownies

Prep Time : 15 Minutes | Cook Time : 30 Minutes | Total Time : 1 hour | Difficulty : Easy

Hello my lovelies! A friend of mine is having a brownie vs blondie battle at her office. It’s too good an idea to pass by. This week we’re on team brownie. Next week team blondie. The good kind of fighting in the lead up to Valentines. These deep dark brownies are adapted from my favourite base recipe by Michelle at Hummingbird High. We are adding crunchy hazelnuts and dark rich Black Doris plum slices to the mix. Dark plums add all kind of fruity goodness to chocolate. Use a good quality chocolate to get the best flavour – you’re worth it. We are cutting these darkly glorious treats into triangles today because I like triangles. Feel free to pull out a large heart cutter to get a good amount of Valentines bang for your buck if you go in for that sort of thing. You can get 4 good sized hearts from an 8 inch pan and then chop up the trimmings and fold them into ice cream for another day. Or later that day. You’re your own person.

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Line an 8 inch square pan with baking paper.

Put the butter, chocolate and cocoa in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl over a pot of water and heat gently until melted together. Make sure the bowl is not touching the water underneath. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Sift the sugars together in another larger bowl and add the eggs. Whisk the eggs and sugar together.

Now this is a very important stage. This recipe can be more fudgy or more cakey depending on how much you whisk the eggs at this stage. If you want a very dense brownie just whisk it a bit until its mixed. If you want a lighter result then whisk until quite thick and pale. I have gone for something in middle so they retain a lot of richness but still have a light enough texture not to be too much. Experiment until you find your sweet spot!

When the chocolate has cooled enough to feel warm but not hot, whisk the chocolate into the eggs.

Gently fold in the flour and hazelnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange plum slices on top until the pan is generously covered.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the brownies are just feeling firm in the middle. They will stay very fudgy don’t worry.

Leave the brownies in the pan to set completely before attempting to slice. Chilling the pan briefly in the fridge will help with slicing.

Serve with all the creamy things. Or enjoy a darkly indulgent treat on it’s own.

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