LUCY’S RECIPE PAGE
A couple of months ago, when the plug on my oven blew its fuse, rather than playing the Damsel in Distress card, and against all gender constraints, I opted to repair it myself. The first step was to choose which kitchen appliance would have to sacrifice its own plug in deference to the natural kitchen hierarchy. It clearly wasn’t to be the kettle, nor the toaster, both key players on the daily scene. I’m pretty sure I would have gone with the cheese toastie maker, had I not been concerned about the potential distress caused to my housemate on discovering such a brutal amputation to his trusted late night companion. In the end, the mixer drew the short straw.
Who would have thought that Year 8 physics would ever come in so handy? In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that learning how to replace a plug was perhaps the single most useful thing I ever learnt at school (an all girls’ establishment in which Home Ec was, of course, forbidden). Sure, when the oven still failed to function the next day, the “handy man” gleefully informed me that I’d confused the red wire with the blue. Or was it the green for the yellow? Is there a yellow? The devil is in the detail. The important thing is, I tried.
Before too long I began to miss said mixer, rendered embarrassingly impotent and hiding away at the back of the cupboard with its scraggly tail between its legs. Today, I decided that my wounded pride as a secret electrical whizz-kid had recovered enough to give it another go. Armed with a brand new plug, I set to work. Happily, the new plug came with a nifty diagram explaining where each wire went, turning it into a glorified exercise of painting by numbers, with screwdrivers. Undeterred by the conspicuous absence of the “earth” wire (which will make me a more wary baker in future) I completed my task without a hitch. Bent over this tiny object, screwdriver in hand, I had a sense of what it must be to be a brain surgeon or molecular biologist, controlling minutiae with a steady hand and a strong will, with fate at one’s fingertips.
face off… indecent proposal… the full monty… the final frontier…
SUCCESS! What feelings of pride, elation and self-importance soared through my veins as the majestic “K” for Kenwood twirled and pirouetted its way around its arena! And what better way to welcome its return than a truly decadent chocolate brownie recipe? My inspiration today comes mostly from an impending visit to a friend who has recently given birth to her first child. I want to take her something, fully aware that she’s exhausted, probably delirious, and without a thought or care for self-catering. I imagine myself, if it should ever come my way, using pregnancy and the early months of motherhood as an excuse to gorge myself on cake and other chocolate delights. Furthermore, brownies make an ideal gift, being easily transportable, and also impossible for the recipient to know how much of the original batch has already been snaffled.
I want to try a new recipe, and have heard from a reliable source that chef Paul Young is currently at the top of the brownie tree. I have one of his recipes, with a reassuringly high percentage of chocolate, but also including cherries and coconut, which don’t really appeal. I have instead substituted blueberries (which go indecently syrupy and gooey) and pecans.
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INGREDIENTS
100g unsalted butter
250g golden caster sugar
75g golden syrup
275g (yes, that’s right) dark chocolate, broken into pieces.
a pinch of salt
4 large free range eggs
70g plain flour
100g fresh blueberries
30g broken pecans
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WHAT TO DO
- Preheat your oven to 160°C
- Put the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan, and heat on a low heat until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally.
- Take the pan off the heat and add the chocolate. Stir in to melt and add the salt.
(At this point, I realise to my horror that my eagerly awaiting Kenwood has absolutely no role whatsoever to play in this recipe. Brownies provide the rare advantage of a one-pot-pud, and can be mixed entirely by hand in a saucepan. I gingerly put the mixer back in the cupboard and try to ignore its dejected screams of protest)
- Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl and beat into the chocolate mixture until its thick and glossy
- Gradually stir in the flour to avoid lumps, and then mix in the blueberries and nuts.
- Pour into a a baking tray (roughly 15 x 20 x 3cm) lined with baking parchment (origami skills essential. Use dabs of butter to stick the paper to the tin).
- Bake for 40-45 minutes. The mixture will still be soft, but it will firm up as it cools.
- Leave to cool and refrigerate overnight (Agreed, it’s tough to have to wait that long, but at least you’ve already licked the pan clean)
- Turn out the tin and remove all the paper. Use a wet, sharp knife to cut the brownies into squares. The original recipe says this will yield 12 to 16 portions, but that really depends on how greedy you’re feeling.
Bon appétit
Always searching for a better brownie recipe. This one looks good. Will definitely try. V disappointed home ed never taught you to change a plug – definite gap in the syllabus.
Never thought that changing a plug produced such a delicious brownies. I wonder what you will be changing next time so that we get a fish recipe! Sea Bass or Halibut would be good!!!