Salted chocolate orange brownies

If there is one thing you need to do this year, it is make these brownies. No, forget arranging that doctors appointment or taking your exams, just focus on these brownies. They are honestly some of the most delicious and all round pleasing things I’ve ever baked. They’re insanely gooey and rich with this beautiful zesty, citrus flavour, which is made more intense by the salt. I’m obsessed. I want to build my home out of slabs of these brownies, and then eat the walls and roof and lie there fat and cold, getting rained on, but happy.

I saw an image of these on Twigg Studios, a baking blog with the most gorgeous photos, and I remember thinking ‘that is art.’ Sorry if I sound overexcited but I would actually frame Twigg Studios brownie photos on my wall. I favourited the page and last week I finally got around to making them myself, and sweet jesus was it worth the wait. When my brownies came out the oven with the same sunken, sun-burst slices of orange I was so happy. Basically, you need to make them.

Whilst I found the recipe on Twigg Studios the original recipe is actually from Lily Vanilli, an adorable bakery in London. The original recipe can be found in her book Sweet Tooth.

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 medium eggs
• 300g dark chocolate
• 300g unsalted butter
• 400g caster sugar
• 80g cocoa powder
• 130g self raising flour
• 70g plain flour
• 50g brazil nuts
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• Zest of 1 orange and 3 tbsp. of juice
• Slices of 1 orange, with the skin removed

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a large, deep square cake tin with baking paper.
2. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and set aside. Grate the orange zest into a medium sixed sauce pan, and then add the juice, butter and sugar. Stir gently on a medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture has blended into an orangey syrup (this is seriously delicious so get a spoon and have a taste).
3. As the orange mix is melting crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk for 1 minute. Add the chopped chocolate, and then the hot orange syrup. Keep whisking on a medium speed  until the chocolate has completely melted. Finally stir in the vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl add the flour and cocoa powder, then mix together until incorporated. Make a well in the centre and pour the chocolate orange mix in, stirring the two together until the wet and dry ingredients are combined.
5. Chop up the nuts and cut thin slices of orange, taking the peel away from the edges. Pour the mix into the prepared tin and then arrange the nuts and orange on top. Sprinkle over a generous pinch of salt. Place in the oven to bake for around an hour (Twigg Studios said 20 minutes but I found mine took around 50 minutes).
6. At this stage you will want to just devour the whole thing, but I highly recommend you keep the brownies in their tin in the fridge overnight, before cutting in the morning. This way you will get nice clean slices. I obviously couldn’t wait and the result was messy (but heavenly).

The recipe makes about 12 slices, or 6 very generous chunks.