I did a silly thing the other day. A friend came by with the gift of a bag of chestnuts after a recent chestnut picking trip to the Blue Mountains. (How exciting that the season is finally upon us!) I had so many grandiose plans for those shiny little beauties. But first, B showed me how to have a proper old fashioned conker fight. Then, after two chestnuts were suitably destroyed in a highly unskilled contest of extremely random proportions, I set about cooking and painstakingly peeling every single nut left in the bag.

Unfortunately, when it came to cooking a large portion of the peeled chestnuts in order to transform them into a puree, I committed a cooking sin : I walked away from the stove. Yes, not-watching-the-pot-on-the-stove. That ole chestnut!

*sigh*

The pain of losing all those chestnuts (and the frustration of having to scrape a burnt pot) left me in no mood to pursue plan A. We had the remaining chestnuts that evening, in a sauce, with potato gnocchi (a Locatelli recipe). Having shelved my chestnut ideas for dessert, I decided to make something comfortingly chocolate instead.

This chocolate brownie surely scores points for being the ultimate in brownie decadence. A brownie, with a baked layer of chocolate cream reminiscent of chocolate brulee, topped with a shiny chocolate glaze. The original had an additional chocolate decoration on top but since I didn’t have the necessary ingredients for it, I omitted that component.

As this dessert is quite rich, I would recommend halving the recipe and making it in a rectangular baking tin with dimensions roughly similar to 18 x 25 x 4cm. It is pretty complete on it’s own and doesn’t even require the garnishes I have included. Cut the resulting brownie into small fingers and share with all the chocoholics in your life. Especially the ones who bother to bring you bags of chestnuts which you subsequently turn into cinder.

[Update : To anyone making the recommended 1/2 recipe, note that your brownie layer will be thinner than mine because I forgot to reduce the brownie component of the recipe when I made the mix. You can proceed with a full brownie recipe, but a 1/2 recipe will probably make for better eating, because you will get a better chocolate cream : brownie ratio. If you do a 1/2 recipe for the brownie component, make sure you reduce your baking time accordingly.]

Chocolate Brownie :
(serves 10 – 12; from Dessert by David Everitt-Matthias)

for the chocolate brownies :
2 eggs
175g caster sugar
240g bitter chocolate (64% cocoa solids)
150g unsalted butter, melted
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
20g cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
60g plain flour
100g hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and finely chopped [I used macadamias]
100g bitter chocolate (71% cocoa solids), finely chopped

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until thick and pale. Put the 64% chocolate in a large bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla, then fold in the egg mixture. Sift together the cocoa powder, baking powder and flour and fold them in too. Add the nuts and chopped chocolate, then transfer the mixture to a grased and lined 12 x 36 x 4cm baking tray and place in an oven preheated to 180’C. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until just cooked but still a little soft in the middle. Remove from the oven and leave to cool while you make the chocolate cream.

for the chocolate cream :
400ml double cream
400ml milk
140g egg yolks (about 4)
100g caster sugar
500g bitter chocolate (71% cocoa solids), chopped

Bring the cream and milk to the boil in a heavy-based saucepan, then remove from the heat. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together, then pour on the cream, whisking to combine. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently for 2 minutes. Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour on the cream mixture, whisking until the chocolate has dissolved. Pass through a fine sieve. Press the edge of the brownie against the sides of the tin to make sure there aren’t any gaps, then immediately pour on the warm chocolate cream, leaving a 2mm gap at the top of the tin for the glaze. Place the tin in an oven preheated to 150’C and cook for 20 – 25 minutes, keeping your eye on it. The cream should be just set and wobble very slightly in the middle. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 3 – 4 minutes and then stretch a piece of cling film over the tin; this will allow the cream to finish cooking in its residual heat. When it is completely cold, place in the fridge for 1 hour.

for the chocolate glaze :
150ml water
175g caster sugar
55g cocoa powder
125ml double cream
2 1/3 gelatine leaves
40g bitter chocolate (64% cocoa solids), chopped

Put the water and caster sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Whisk in the cocoa powder and cream, bring back to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.

Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 5 minutes, until soft and pliable, then squeeze out all the water. Remove the pan from the heat and add the gelatine, stirring until dissolved. Leave to cool for 3 – 4 minutes, then pour on to the chopped chocolate, whisking until it has melted. Pass through a fine sieve and leave to cool.

Remove the brownie from the fridge and spread a layer of the cooled glaze on top, smoothing the surface so it is level with the top of the tin. Return to the fridge to set.

To serve, carefully remove the brownie from the tin and cut it into portions, using a warm, wet knife.

(PS: I forgot to mention in the previous post that I have finally joined Twitter. My one concession to a life otherwise free from Mybook/FaceSpace blah. I’m not sure if I will actually use it much. In fact, I barely know how to use it at this stage, but I thought I would sign up anyway, and see how things go from there).

Recently watched : Låt den rätte komma in

Recently wondered : If Cloudy, with a chance of Meatballs could quite possibly be the next ultimate foodie movie.

Recently heard : Röyksopp

Recently prayed to the food gods at : Spice Temple (recommended : Steamed eggplant with three flavours; Leatherjacket drowned in dried chilli and Sichuan peppercorns)

Recently baked : Lamington-rons!

Why?

Well, just when you think you have sufficiently scratched that itch, along comes another temptation to ponder the benefits of one macaron method over another. This latest temptation comes in the form of Julia’s lovely blog. My favoured standard macaron method isn’t too dissimilar to the one Julia was taught at a macaron class she took in Melbourne. It’s quick, and I always get results I’m very happy with, but I am definitely warming to the Italian meringue method which she also uses to great effect.

For these lamington inspired macarons, I chose to use David Everitt-Matthias’ recipe for chicory macarons from his new book (and my latest cookbook infatuation), substituting chicory as a flavour, with cocoa powder. What I found with the Italian meringue method was that the resulting raw mixture was incredibly stable. Where it’s not unusual to get a slightly less than 100% yield with my normal method, with this batch, I managed a full yield. Well, maybe 80%, because I ate a few. 😛

In the future, I hope to explore this method a little further. Next time though, I will stick to my usual step of sifting the almond meal and icing sugar before using it. I like sifting the dry ingredients to get rid of any larger bits of nut meal which would cause the macaron shell to look less smooth. They were a little bumpy in appearance on this occasion, but certainly no less tasty.

Chicory Macarons :
(makes 18; from Dessert by David Everitt-Matthias)

200g caster sugar
50 ml water
140g egg whites (4 – 5 whites)
200g icing sugar
200g ground almonds
30ml chicory essence

Put the caster sugar and water in a heavy-based pan and heat gently, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Raise the heat, bring to the boil and cook without stirring until the syrup reaches 120’C on a sugar thermometer. When it reaches approximately 110’C, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks in a freestanding electric mixer. When the syrup reaches the correct temperature, slowly pour it onto to the whites, whisking constantly. Carry on whisking until the mixture is thick and very stiff.

Mix the icing sugar and ground almonds together and add slowly to the egg whites, gently folding them in. Finally fold in the chicory essence. Place in a piping bag and pipe on to a tray lined with baking parchment, making rounds approximately 3cm in diameter. Allow to dry for about 30 minutes. This is important, as it allows a skin to form before you bake them. Place in an oven preheated to 180’C and bake for 8 – 12 minutes [Note : mine were ready at the 9 minute mark]. Ideally the vent of the oven should be open, but you could just prop the door open slightly [Note : I don’t really think this is necessary, but I did very slightly open the door of the oven for a second or two, half way through the baking process]. The macaroons should be firm to the touch and crisp when cool. Remove from the oven, leave to cool, and then remove from the baking parchment.

Chicory Ganache :

70ml double cream
10ml chicory essence [I omitted this]
100g bitter chocolate (71% cocoa solids), chopped
30g unsalted butter

Put the double cream and chicory essence in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and put to one side for 2 minutes. Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour on the hot cream. Stir until the chocolate has melted [Note : If you have trouble getting the chocolate to melt before the cream cools down, do this over a bain marie, but be careful not to overheat the mixture], then add the butter and stir until amalgamated. Leave to cool completely, then whisk until smooth. Sandwich the macaroons together with the ganache.