Homemade Brownies - Baking Mad recipe

Last weekend, we were going over to my parents for Sunday lunch and they asked for us to bring a dessert. So for Lee's first ever baking experience we made a blueberry crumble cake which turned out surprisingly well.

To go with the cake, on a whim I decided to make some brownies to take. I didn't have my hummingbird bakery cook book so I had to look a recipe up online and came across the Baking Mad recipe for the 'ultimate brownie.' http://www.bakingmad.com/the-ultimate-chocolate-brownie-recipe/
The recipe looked pretty amazing so I thought I would give them a go. However, I didn't have unrefined dark muscovado sugar so substituted it for light brown caster sugar. I tend to use this when I bake brownies because the fine grain gives a smooth texture and because it is brown it doesn't taste quite as synthetic. I also added in white chocolate chips because I love the little extra sweet burst you get when you add them in.

So the ingredients were as follows:

200g Butter (unsalted)
350g Dark chocolate
3 Eggs
250g Light brown caster sugar
50g self-raising flour
30g of white chocolate chips

So the steps were as follows:

Step 1: Pre heat the oven to 190 and line a 20cm baking tin with grease proof paper. - From my experience, make sure that you use grease proof paper the tin or butter it so that the brownies come out easily. The reason I say this is, with a brownie, they are gooey even after you have cooled them or chilled them in the fridge so having the grease proof paper makes it so much easier to cut up and remove the first few brownies. 

Step 2: melt together the butter and chocolate in a Pyrex bowl over simmering water

Step 3: Whisk together the eggs until pale and fluffy then add in the sugar until it is thick and then fold in the chocolate - I haven't had to whisk the eggs separately before but actually, I really like this technique because it gives the brownie mixture a lighter consistency so it doesn't feel as dense

Step 4: sieve in the flour until the mixture is smooth

Step 5: Pour into the baking tin and cook for 30-35 minutes, the top should begin to look like paper and there should still be some movement in the centre of the tin

Step 6: If the brownie begins to brown at the edges pop some foil over the edges to protect them

Step 7: Leave to cool and then you can cut it up into squares

These brownies were great. They weren't really gooey in the centre however they had the paper top and a very smooth consistency to them. The addition of chocolate chips definitely added a bit of extra sweetness. I would like to try them again when I have muscovado sugar in the house.

Gourmet Burger Bistro - Cork

As the second part of Lee's birthday weekend away to Ireland, we had two nights in Cork. As per usual we took a coach there in the early hours. I slept most of the way whilst Lee played on his phone and did man things.

Cork was gorgeous when we arrived! Stepping off the coach which we had been stuck on for three hours, into the bright December day, started the day right. After checking into our hotel which looked onto the River Lee (the fact it had the same name as Lee, definitely had a bearing on my choice). We decided we needed something to eat. We hadn't eaten since the previous evening so using my Tripadvisor app, I found a place called Gourmet Burger Bistro, a 5 minute walk from our hotel. It ticked the boxes on feeling lazy, being hungry and having both vegetarian and meat burgers.

The restaurant sits on the start of the hill of Bridge Street. We walked in and it has a cafe/ american diner feel to it being slightly darker, painted wood, booths and wooden tables. There were only a couple of other tables when we went in but it felt very relaxed. We were sat in the cosy corner which I always like.

We skipped the starters as we were hungry. I went for the Italian burger which came with parma ham, pesto and mozarella. While Lee went for the breaded halloumi burger which came with sweet peppers, roast beetroot and red pepper chutney. Mine was nice but the burger meat was a little thin and whilst the parma ham, mozarella and pesto goes fantastically with chicken, with beef it isn't such a great combo. Having said that I loved that it came with an Italian flag in it and the bread was soft and it still tasted good. Lee's on the other hand was amazing!! It was crispy, juicy, sweet and sour all at one. It was so delicious. The chips were a great size too.

A nice little extra touch and one that I always appreciate is that there was mayonnaise on the table and it was home made.

To finish the lunch off we had the hazelnut and chocolate brownie to share. It came with toffee sauce and real whipped cream. It was soft and chocolatey but the toffee sauce definitely made it!!

The meal cost around 37 euros which is about £31 which for a hearty lunch time meal was good value for money.

Cork was gorgeous! Such a relaxed and pretty city and the trip to Blarney castle and dinner at Market Lane and Gourmet Burger Bistro made it tick all the right boxes.

Christmas lunch with a brownie thrown in

Just before Christmas, my dad and I finally met up for a lunch during the week....it only took us 6 months to organise. 

We went to this lovely little place called Banh Mi Bay on Theobalds Road. I had the pork rolls to start and then a chicken salad for my main. They were delicious and filling but light and not greasy. The atmosphere is there is pretty hectic at lunch because you can get takeaways but it doesn't feel crowded. 

Afterward lunch, my dad wanted to pick up a little extra present for my mum and sister so we popped into Konditor and Cook. Naturally I was drawn to the brownie display. It was very tempting to go for the 'buy three and get one free' but I resisted. Instead I chose just one single Curly Whirly brownie which had a cheesecake marbled on the top. 

It took a lot of will power but I managed to save the brownie till the evening when I shared it with Lee. Cut into half (the slightly larger half going to me), we ate the brownie. My god it was good! So moist and then the smooth creamy cheesecake made it melt in your mouth. It was gooey but not so much that it stuck your mouth together or that it fell apart when you touched it. 

When I finished that brownie, I was kicking myself, why did I go for the buy three and get one free? Oh well I will just have to make another trip there. 

The brownie was so good I went onto their website to torture myself a little bit more by looking at photos of all the brownies. Whilst I did make myself more hungry for a brownie, I did also discover that Konditor and Cook have a cooking class where you can go and learn how to make their delicious brownies. For an evenings class which is an hour and a half and costs £60 you learn to make their brownies. I know what I want for my birthday! 

Dublin in December, GBK

So for Lee's birthday being the 'great' girlfriend that I am (someone has to tell me even if it is coming from me), I bought a weekend in Dublin/Cork. We arrived on the Saturday to a bright clear day which always makes the early start a little more bearable. We checked into the Academy Plaza just off O'Connell Street because the location is great and the rooms don't feel too corporate as well as very helpful staff.

During our day in Dublin we pottered around the Christmas market drinking plenty of mulled cider....it was cold so we needed keep warm. As well as picking up some fudge along the journey. We then took a walk around Pheonix park passed the lake and finished our drinks on the peaceful benches.

That evening, we went to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen on South Anne Street, We had been the previous year and GBK is a mile better in Ireland. I discovered that it was actually set up in Ireland which must be why it is so good. We shared onion rings to start which were huge, the batter wasn't greasy and actually had this uneven crispy texture rather than just one solid lump. For my main I had the avocado, cheese, bacon burger which came with relish, gherkin and I order a side of fries. The burger was big and juicy with the cheese melted enough so it oozed. And the fries were hand cut, crispy yet soft inside and salty. On top of that unlike in the UK you get a refillable drink so you can keep washing your food down. Lee had the special goat cheese covered in breadcrumbs which came with rocket and a sweet jam. I unfortunately haven't seen this option in UK but hopefully it will come soon.

The total meal came to around 40 euros and I can say that GBK in Ireland is great! The sizes are bigger, the staff are really friendly, quick service, refillable drink and the food is just that little bit more yummy.

Cau Cambridge

For Lee's 26th Birthday despite him being a vegetarian, I took him to Cau in Cambridge. I have been wanting to go there for quite a while to have a steak as the menu and word of mouth had gotten me excited. And I thought why not try somewhere new for a birthday as a bit of a treat.

When you walk into the restaurant it is slightly surreal with the ceiling painted with grass, mirrors all around, white plastic benches against the wall and skies on the walls. Despite this unexpected interior which is quite eccentric, it has a relaxed atmosphere making it a lovely venue for special occasion which is still at lunch time.

Lee had tuna and I went for the cheese and bacon burger (a classic burger combo). We both ordered chips with me choosing thin chips and Lee choosing the triple cooked chips. Then as a treat on the side we shared the truffle mac and cheese. The burger was good with proper bacon which wasn't streaky and didn't have loads of fat on. The burger was cooked medium rare and was lovely and moist. It didn't come with loads of extra fillings like relish or a gherkin but with the sides was more than filling. I think the best bit of the main for me was the mac and cheese (a timeless childhood classic). It was so moorish and filling that the small pot we had did us well.

For dessert we shared the chocolate brownie which came with melted marshmallows on the top, vanilla ice cream, crumbled biscuit and dried raspberry crumbs on the side. This was definitely a dessert for sharing. Whilst the brownie was soft on the inside and had a crisp top and bottom, it was very sweet. The melted marshmallow, I hadn't had this before on a brownie but it was delicious. So googey and sweet.  The presentation of the dessert also made the meal that bit more out of the ordinary.

The meal came to around £60 for two mains, two chips, mac & cheese, brownie, and two smoothies. Not the amount I would spend on a normal lunch out but for a birthday meal which felt more than usual, it was a reasonable price to pay.

It was such a lovely lunch although the burst tyre on the way home was definitely not ideal considering that I had desserts to make for my parents' Christmas party the following day. Along with cleaning as we were having a party that night for Lee's birthday. Thank goodness our stomachs were full of delicious food to get us through.

King Cross Real Food Festival

I spend five days a week commuting to and from London and the commute is not exactly the most fun experience. Especially during the winter when I rarely see daylight during the week and it is usually wet and windy on my walks to and from the station. So sometimes it is nice to have a little pick me up.

That pick me up has come from the food festival which is running at Kings Cross several times a month called the Real Food Market with coffee stalls to cake stalls to savoury stalls. So whilst I am usually in a rush to make a train, it is nice when I do have an extra 10 minutes to have a potter round.

The other day I did just this. On Thursday 4th December when I had a long weekend, I made a pit stop before catching the train to the Outsider Tart stall to get a few cakes. I made the wise choose of the cheesecake brownie.

This brownie was a real over indulgence with the cheesecake top which had swirls of chocolate running through it. It was moist and didn't try out your mouth. Then the base of the cakes was a cross of a brownie and biscuit base. It cost about £2.50 for each brownie and for the size of it (you could definitely cut it into two and save one for another day), I definitely wasn't complaining. It isn't something you would buy everyday as it is quite heavy but it was a great treat which was incredibly moreish and not too sickly sweet. 

Ptown brownie

As part of our three week trip to America, the middle section was in Cape Cod in Provincetown. Until the point when we started planning this trip, I had never really thought about going there so I had no real expectations of what it would be like. It was amazing! Provincetown reminds me of a mixture of Brighton and San Francisco.

It is so relaxed with the seaside vibe and weather board painted house making it incredibly picturesque with Commercial Street the main street in the town running parallel to the sea for over a mile. There are little art galleries, jewellery shops and cafes with delicious cakes, making it a wonderful day of popping in and out of the shops. The second selling point was the love of dogs. I have never been anywhere before where dogs are so celebrated, to the point that there is a special water fountain at dog level. The third selling point was the fish, so fresh and delicious and so much choice. The Lobster Pot lives up to its reputation of being great. From the outside it doesn't look particularly special but when you go upstairs you are sat looking out over the sea and then the tuna dish I had was unbelievable. It came with mashed potato and a mango sauce.

Now I ate a lot of fish in Provincetown but I also had a lot of sweets while I was there from Salt Water taffy to brownies. The brownie I had whilst I was there was a coconut brownie. I love coconut and I love brownies so it sounded like a perfect combination. It was good don't get me wrong but the you want a small piece because it can become too sickly. Also if there isn't enough condensed milk or liquid mixed with the brownie then it can be quite drying in the mouth. Potentially have a liner layer of coconut with more liquid would make this brownie an excellent combination.

Still I enjoy an interesting combination and this is a recipe I am going to try out to see if I can work out the perfect combination of the two parts. I would rate this brownie as a 6/10.

Amazing trip to Ptown!!! I want to go back x