Chocolate and Caramel Brownies

Last year, Adriano Zumbo had a television series about his work and in the third episode he headed back to the town where he grew up.  In that episode, he visited the local school and made brownies with some of the students.

The recipe looked pretty darn tasty which was a good invitation to make it as far as I was concerned.

The original recipe calls for hazelnuts but as I am not a fan of them, what is a girl to do?  Oh that's right, replace it with MORE chocolate.

Place the dark chocolate and butter in a saucepan over simmering water and gently stir until completely melted.

Sift together the cocoa, flour and baking powder into another bowl, add the salt and then set aside.

In another bowl (yes, there will be a bit of washing up after this recipe), gently whisk the eggs and brown sugar together, taking car to not incorporate too much air which is usually the aim of the game when whisking.

Stir the vegetable oil into the melted chocolate and then gently fold this into the egg mixture.

Next, fold in the sifted dry ingredients and the sour cream until just combined.  Do not overmix!

Then it is time to add a little more chocolate.  The chocolate should be chopped into small pieces, and I like to have a couple of different sizes for a bit of interest.

You can cut back the quantity of chocolate if you like, but in all honesty why would you want to?

Fold in the chocolate and then pour into the cake tin.  I use a square silicone mould as I find it easier to remove the cooked brownies.

Transfer the Nestle Top 'n' Fill (or Dulce de Leche) into a small bowl and stir until smooth.  Dollop this over the top of the brownie batter and using a fork, swirl through.

Place in the preheated oven for between 45-60 minutes until cooked through (but if they remain a little doughy, that just adds to the awesomeness that is these brownies).

Do not be alarmed if you notice the brownies sink a little when they start to cool as this is perfectly fine.

Once cool, remove from the pan and slice into small pieces.  As this is so rich, I cut them into pieces generally no more than 3cm square.

Store these in an air tight container and they will keep for a week or so.  Well, that is what I hear as they generally don't last more than 2 days when taken to work or when I delivered a surprise batch to my mother's work.

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Chocolate and Caramel Brownies

Adapted from Adriano Zumbo's brownie recipe.

Ingredients

• 70g unsalted butter
• 265g dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 45g plain flour
• 5g baking powder
• 35g cocoa
• pinch salt
• 3 eggs
• 265g brown sugar
• 35g vegetable oil
• 85g sour cream
• 170g white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 170g milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 1 can Nestle Top 'n' Fill Caramel or Dulce de Leche

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Bring a pot of water to the boil and leave it simmering. Place the butter and dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl and place on the pan and stir gently until the butter and chocolate have melted together.
3. In a separate bowl, sieve the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt then set aside.
4. Place the eggs and brown sugar into another bowl and whisk gently until combined, taking care not to incorporate too much air.
5. Pour the vegetable oil into the melted chocolate and stir through.
6. With a spatula, gently fold the melted chocolate into the egg and brown sugar mixture. Then fold in the sifted dry ingredients and sour cream until just combined, taking car not to over mix.
7. Add the white and milk chocolate and fold through. Pour the batter into your cake tin/silicone mould.
8. Transfer the Top 'n' Fill/Dulce de Leche into a bowl and stir until smooth. Dollop this over the top of the mixture and using a fork swirl through.
9. Place in the oven and cook for 45-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean (note, look for chocolate on the skewer as you will see caramel regardless as it doesn't "set").
10. Allow to cool and then cut into small pieces, approximately 3cm square.

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