Food Friday

Available for over a year

Ingredients: 300g unsalted butter, cubed 250g dark chocolate broken into small pieces 1 handful dried cherries 2 handfuls walnut pieces 1 capful vanilla extract Pinch sea salt flakes 80g plain flour 360g caster sugar 80g cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 4 eggs, lightly beaten 1 x 400g can dark cherries in syrup, drained For the glaze: (optional not essential) 2 heaped spoonfuls morello cherry jam 50ml kirsch or other alcohol such as dark rum For the topping: 300ml whipping cream 3 heaped tablespoons mascarpone 1 teaspoon cocoa Method: 1: Heat oven to 180C. Put the butter and chocolate in a bowl set over simmering water and melt until silky and thoroughly combined then add the dried cherries and nuts. 2: combine the flour, cocoa, sugar and baking powder in a separate bowl and stir to mix. 3: Add the flour mx to the melted chocolate and gently stir to combine then add the eggs and continue to mix gently with a spatula until it is all thoroughly combined. 4: Line a 25cm x 25cm baking tray with greased baking paper that overhangs by a few cm to make it easy to remove the brownie later, and pour in the brownie mix, scatter over half of the cherries and push them into the mix. 5: Bake for 25-30 minutes (it will be quite wobbly, it will harden on cooling) then remove from oven and leave to cool completely in the baking tray. 6: Put the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat for 4 minutes. Brush over the cold brownie. 7: remove the brownie from the tin. 8: Beat the whipping cream until firm then ad the mascarpone and mix well, put it in a piping bag and pipe over the top of the brownie to cover. Decorate with the remaining cherries and a dusting of coca.