WARNING: Highly addictive content

There's quite the backlog of post building up in my head as there's been a flurry of activity in the North London Kitchen since we returned from Dorset. It's resulted in sticky floors, sticky slippers, a tonne of washing up and some interesting phone calls (not all of which were to my Mum).

However, when I assessed which of the recent projects was in most urgent need of being posted, it wasn't anything from this week at all. Now, I've warned you, the following is highly addictive. If, like me, you have no will power, make at your peril, they will vanish, leaving a trail of gooey devestation in their wake.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the Ultimate Rocky Road Brownie Recipe.

Oh yes, it is good enough to warrant the use of "ultimate" in the title. I know, because I've had them. They may not look that special, or pretty, but it's what's inside that counts.


I am very careful not to make these too often. They are a special occasion brownie, packed with far too much deliciousness and gooey stuff and bits of niceness. They are not a grab-on-the-go type, but a savouring-in-front-of-Match-of-the-Day-after-a-hard-night's-drive-across-the-west-of-England-to-your-hotel type brownie. Which is exactly why I made them last Friday ready for our River Cottage Road Trip. The time I made them before that was for a 26 hour, three changes, haven't seen my boyfriend in three months, flight across to Peru when N was away two years ago. As you can tell, these are very special indeed.

I can't remember where I found the recipe, but it was years ago, I think when I was still in college. I think I was reading something at the time that mentioned them and I decided I wanted to have a go. Problem was, I didn't have a recipe. Back then there wasn't a barrage of food blogs I could turn to, but a little hunting and careful search engine usage produced a recipe. I still have that original print out, typed in courior new and cut out to a size just big enough to fit into my recipe scrap book. It is America, as it should be, and so uses cup measures. I'd never come across this back in the day, so actually used a cup. How quaint!

I've adapted and changed and tweaked over the years and every time I think I've got it perfect, then I change something the next time and it's even better. This is one of the things that makes it the "ultimate" rocky road. It can be whatever you want. I didn't used to be a fan of nuts in brownies, so have used everything from chopped biscuit to maraschino cherries (which are now a staple in my final version) in their place, this time I used some macadamia and it came out great. Next time, whenever it may be I will probably try toasted pecans to get some caramel flavour in there.

Oh, and while I remember, they're a great way to use up gritty marshmallows!

The Ultimate Rocky Road Brownie: Makes, well it depends, the original recipe says 12, this time I cut it into 8, but they were pretty large and we ate half one each to make them last longer!

Also, the original recipe calls for a 9" by 13" pan, which I still don't own. I used a 7" by 10" (I think), basically any brownie sized pan will do, they will just be thicker or thinner. Keep an eye on the baking time though, you want them gooey not charcol!

1 1/4 cups caster sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs 4 squares dark chocolate melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 milk/dark chocolate chip or chunks
1/2 white chocolate chips or chunks (or nuts or dried fruit, or chopped biscuit or...)
1 cup maraschino cherries (I prefer these to glace as they are moist and include alcohol!)
marshmallows (gritty or otherwise)

Heat oven to 180C and line your brownie pan with parchment (I've found the hard way that this is the best way to ensure easy release of your baked brownie goodness). Cream together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until thick and lemon coloured. Mix in the melted chocolate and vanilla. Add the cocoa and flour and mix until well combined. Stir in the chips and bits.

Lay the marshmallows (as many as you want, but don't have them touching - I used 12 large) in the pan with space between them. Allow a 1" border from the side of the pan if possible. Spoon the batter over the marshmallows so they're all covered and then pour any excess into the middle of the pan (it will spread as it bakes).

Bake until a toothpick comes out moist from chocolate, but not batter. Aprox 25-30 minutes. Cool in the pan and the lift out and cut. Chill to solidify slightly if needs be, but indulge at room temperature.

And he does it again.

It official, Nigel Slater is rocking our world!

I just made his "very good chocolate brownie" recipe, and he's right, they are very good. No, make that VERY good! Yes ladies and gentlemen, that's bold and italic and capitals, they are that tasty.

I have been craving brownies again these last few days, unusual because although I like chocolate, it's rare that I crave it, and this makes it twice in two months, which is even weirder. I think the problem is that last time I made brownies they were alright, but not the crisp-on-the-outside-gooey-in-the-middle masterpieces I was hoping. This is probably a combination of over-baking and wanting to skimp on the calories and make them lower fat. Now that's all very well, I should eat low fat things because of my back (I have sciatica that is brought on because the muscles in my back can't metabolize fats very well and so become inflamed pressing on the nerve), and should eat low calorie things because of my conscience. Thing is, sometimes that just doesn't hit the spot. So out of the window go all the good intentions and into the oven goes gooey chocolatey goodness.

I finished reading "The Kitchen Diaries" by Nigel Slater this week. I had been saving it, reading it week by week according to the date. However, N has been working late this week and I needed something to keep me company. Plus the weather hasn't exactly been summery, so I didn't see any problem with dipping into the autumn months. This proved dangerous. It was as if Mr Slater had read my mind because there, hidden in the depths of October was a recipe for brownies, and worse, a picture. Damn they looked good.

I tried to resist I really did, but when I went out for the paper this morning it was cold and damp and I knew that brownies were going to be made. I figured I could make them, eat one today, ride the bike to wear off the calories and quickly whip the rest into the freezer for N's lunches. Hmmm, they're so good they may not last long enough to get in the freezer.

They are a very adult brownie, dark and rich but not too sweet. Crisp on the outside, but so fudgy as to almost be runny in the middle. I think the flavour was helped by the fact that I used 70% cocoa chocolate. I halved the recipe and had to slightly adapt it as a result, but there were no complaints when I dished them up. In fact I think the phrase from N was "these are a real winner." I served them with fresh hot coffee, but I think they'd be good as a dessert served simply with raspberries or strawberries - you won't need cream, believe me!

Nigel Slater's "very good chocolate brownies" adapted from "The Kitchen Diaries" - makes six.

150g caster sugar
125g butter
125g 70% chocolate
2 eggs
30g plain flour
30g cocoa flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

(I had to line half a baking tin, using folded parchment paper to make it half size, otherwise the brownies won't be thick enough. If you double the mixture (but use 3 eggs not 2) it should fit a brownie pan.)

Preheat the oven to 180C

Cream the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Beat the eggs and then slowly add to the mixture a bit at a time, combining in between each addition. Melt 100g of the chocolate in a double boiler or over a pan of simmering water (but don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water), chop the remaining chocolate into very mall pieces. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together. Add the melted and chopped chocolate to the eggs and sugar batter, combine and then slowly fold in the flour mixture, being careful to keep as much air in the mix as possible.

Spoon into the lined baking pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes. It should look slightly softer in the middle than the edges. A toothpick should come out wet, but not with raw batter on it. If it does return to the oven for a further 3 minutes, bearing in mind it will solidify as it cools. Remove from the oven and cool for at least an hour before cutting into squares and indulging.

Baking Day! (June): brownies, cupcakes and biscuits

Although there have been bits and pieces of baking going on, it feels like a very long time indeed since the last baking day. In the end it turned into rather a mammoth day, with me making not one, but three things! Clearly I had been feeling deprived.



I've been craving brownies all week for some reason. I'm not sure why because they are rarely something I think about eating of baking. Perhaps I just felt the need for a pure chocolate hit. So whatever was going to happen brownies would be made. However, I also wanted to make some biscuits. Ages ago I bought a moose-shaped cookie cutter and still hadn't gotten around to using it. N kept reminding me of it, and this week my new hoodie arrived in the post, complete with moose design and "mooses like peanut butter too..." slogan. So I knew I had to get the cutter out and give it ago, moose shaped peanut butter biscuits it had to be!

But, then I was faced with a real dilemma. I already had to things I wanted to make, but three new cookbooks on my reading pile. It felt rude not to try something from them, particularly as the Ottolenghi has such an impressive and extensive baking section. Also, N had commented in a cafe recently that their chocolate cake looked really good, and that he reckoned the only reason he thought so was because it was decorated with bits of Cadbury's Flake! I of course, replied with a sarcastic comment about now having to top anything I baked for him with Flake to make it appetising. Another challenge for my baking day, I had to make something I could stick a bit of flake on to continue the joke.

It occurred to me that I also hadn't indulged my cupcake love for a while too, and what would be more perfect than cute little cakes topped with flake. Fortunately Ottolenghi not only includes two cupcake recipes in his book, but I had all the ingredients for one of them.

Thus began the baking day adventures. My mission, to make low-fat brownies, peanut butter cut-out biscuits and hazelnut cupcakes topped with flake!

The brownie recipe came from Baking Bites, a blog I not only read twice a day (because she manages to update so often) but rate really highly. It not only talks about recipes, but reviews products and give tips and advice. It really is everything you'd want from a food blog. There had been a post on their previously about double chocolate brownies, that looked great, but then a few days later she posted about low-fat brownies. Now what with needing as low fat a diet as possible because of my back this immediately caught my eye, especially as her comments said that it didn't lack anything taste and texture wise die to being low fat. I eagerly copied down the recipe and decided to give it a go. The batter was really thick, and hard to spread in a parchment lined baking tray (I had to get N to hold the paper in place while I struggled with the spatula) but it did settle out whilst baking. I wasn't sure what the result would be like, especially as I managed to overcook it slightly and so it didn't come out as gooey as I had hoped. However, the taste was great. Rich and cakey (due to overbaking, next time I'd baked for less time to get it fudgey) and with a nice chocolate flavour that wasn't too sweet. Plus you definitely wouldn't know it was low fat.




Low-fat chocolate brownies (makes 8)

preheat the oven to 180C and grease/line a 10" by 6" baking tin

3/4 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2oz dark chocolate
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp fromage frais of low-fat yoghurt
1 egg
1 egg white
1tsp vanilla essence

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl melt together the butter and chocolate. Whisk this mixture with the sugars and yoghurt and when combined whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Gently mix in the flour. The batter will be really thick. Bake for about 20mins until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Allow to cool then cut into eight.

The peanut butter biscuits posed slightly more of a problem. I couldn't find a recipe anywhere for a peanut butter cookie recipe that you could roll out and cut shapes with. In the end I decided to just experiment. It could go horridly wrong, but that was a risk that would be worth taking! I used a basic recipe for cut-out biscuits and used peanut butter rather than butter. I also only used an egg yolk, since I had one left from the brownies. This meant the dough didn't really come together, so I had to add a bit of water, but in the end it rolled out fine and made some nice biscuits, not too sweet with a subtle peanut flavour. I glazed them with some of the icing I was going to use on the cupcakes.


Moosey peanut butter biscuits. (Makes 8-10 large biscuits)

Preheat oven to 190C and line/grease a baking sheet

125g plain flour
63g peanut butter
63g brown sugar
1 egg yolk (or 1/2 beaten egg)
water to make up to a dough

Beat the butter and the sugar and add the egg. Sieve the flour into the mixture and mix into a dough, gradually adding enough water to make it roll-able. Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake on a high shelf for aprox. 15 mins.

Finally I made the hazelnut cupcakes. I halved the recipe to make only six since there was already a rather large amount of baked goods in the house. Instead of using the cream cheese icing suggested in the book I used a whipped chocolate ganache, and plonked a hunk of flake on top.

Now you have all these delicious goodies, settle down in front of the cricket with a cup of tea and enjoy!