16 (8) servings; 20 min preparation; 30 min cooking time.

I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate. I don’t use it often in my recipes and don’t eat it. But when your friends ask for something indulgent and special, you can’t just refuse the request. That’s why I made very special brownies that I doubt you tried before.

The secret of a good brownie is in the chocolate you use. The better the chocolate, the better and more complex the taste. I thought it won’t be a good idea to use milk chocolate for this recipe, because it would end very sweet and heavy, so I decided to go with a very good quality pure chocolate with high amount of cocoa in it. You can find so many different types and different ratios. The 75% cocoa powder chocolate seemed to me to be the best choice, but if you find 80% or even 85%, go for it. I promise you, you can taste the difference.

Because I used this chocolate with a high percentage cocoa, I decided not use add additional cocoa powder. I know other people do add such, but I didn’t feel the need. And the result paid off. Even I couldn’t resist the chocolate. It was so yummy, that I had a challenge to stay away from the brownies so that my friends can taste them. And adding the orange essence turned out to be a great decision. The aroma comes through in every bite as it makes the brownies really special and unique. This combination is made in heaven!

Ingredients

• 150 g pure chocolate, 75% cocoa or more
• 120 g butter
• 150 g sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 100 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp orange essence

• 100 g walnuts, chopped
• 50 g pure chocolate, chopped

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F. Grease a squared baking dish

Bring a pan with a little bit of water to the boil. Place a  heat proof bowl on top of the pan. The water shouldn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Put the chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir until melted. Absorb the condensed water on the bottom of the bowl and set aside to cool down a little bit.

Use a whisk to add the sugar to the mixture. Add the eggs one by one as you keep whisking. Add the vanilla and orange essence.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, using a spatula. Add the chopped remaining chocolate and nuts.

Pour the mixture to the baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 min, then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees C and bake for additional 20 min. Let the brownies cool completely before you cut them. Enjoy!