Chocolate brownies (Frankie's vlog)

Today Frankie shows you how to make delicious chocolate brownies. (We made ours with gluten-free flour and baking powder but you can swap these for ordinary wheat flour if you like.)

Raspberry chocolate brownies

Erin’s chocolate brownie recipe I made recently was so good it’s all I think I ever want to bake again!  We had a girls night at our house this weekend so it was a great excuse to make them a second time – this time instead of white chocolate chips, I added a layer of frozen raspberries in the middle, and a chocolate fudge icing. Totally divine!

Erin’s salted dark choc brownies with white choc chips

This is a very special recipe.  Our friend Roz emigrated to Australia last year (you might remember I made her some pretty delicious peach melba cupcakes before she went) and when she arrived to start a new life and lots of adventures on the other side of the world, she became fantastic friends with a young woman called Erin. Just before Roz came home to see her family and friends this Christmas, Erin tragically passed away.  Roz kindly shared Erin's famous brownie recipe with me, and it was a privilege to make them yesterday, the day after Erin's birthday.  These are incredible brownies - wildy decadent, fabulously chocolatey, can't-fail-to-make-you-grin, heart-warmingly good! As I baked, and as we ate them, we were thinking of Roz and all Erin's friends and family. I hope that you enjoy them as much.  

Two minute chocolate mug cake

I'm almost ashamed of this, but it works! And when you have a cake craving late at night and need an instant chocolate fix, it's an amazing invention - an instant, gooey brownie for one! If you don't believe me, try it...

Banana courgette blondies

I was so impressed with the chocolate courgette brownies I'd made, I decided to try making 'blondies' - brownies without chocolate, this time with banana instead. Again, you'd have no idea that these contained any courgette, and because they are free from eggs or butter they are suitable for vegans. You could almost say these are healthy cakes!

Chocolate courgette brownies

These might sound weird but they taste absolutely amazing. You'd never know there was a load of grated vegetable in them, but you will wonder how they are so gorgeously moist! TThey also don't contain any eggs or butter, so are suitable for vegans. I used yellow courgettes fresh from my mum's allotment, which of course made these extra special.  I took them to Plymouth for a weekend away with the girls. I think they are the best brownies I've ever made - deliciously rich, gooey, chocolatey, and a perfect light and fluffy texture. Try them!

Amazing yellow courgettes from Mum's allotment

Cadbury’s Crème Egg Brownies

I saw this recipe on Facebook of all places and just couldn't resist trying it when our friends Cath and Gregg came for dinner. They kind of sum up what Easter is all about for me - oodles of chocolate! Apart from being adorned with ever-so slightly melted Cadbury’s crème eggs - which I love - the basic brownie recipe that sits beneath them is gorgeous.  

Salted caramel chocolate brownies

I made these for a night in with friends to which we all had to bring nice cheeses and cold meats, and of course lots of wine. These were amazing served warm with vanilla ice cream, when the salted caramel centre oozes out of the brownies - but I discovered they are almost better the next day somehow (or it could be that they're just the right combination of saltiness and chocolateyness to be a perfect hangover cure!)  They were extra easy to make because I cheated and used a tin of Carnation caramel rather than making my own - although if you want to, a recipe for homemade salted caramel is included in this post for my salted caramel chocolate tart.

Red wine, blueberry and chocolate brownie cupcakes

It's been a stressful couple of days.  I decided we needed chocolate and red wine.  Then thought - what better than brownies made with chocolate and red wine?  I also had some blueberries in the fridge so chucked them into the mix.  And used my silicone cupcake moulds rather than a brownie tin.  The result?  Red wine, blueberry and chocolate brownie cupcakes!  Sounds weird maybe, but tastes gooood.  Best served still warm with icecream!

Beetroot chocolate brownies

This is my adaptation of a cross between a Harry Eastwood and a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe, with added decadence through the inclusion of chunks of chocolate, a mix of demerara and caster sugar, lots of cocoa.  If you want them even more chocolatey, increase the amount of melted chocolate - but I think this is a nice amount to maintain the earthiness of the beetroot, which makes them lovely and moist.  The trick with this one is not to use grated raw beetroot but to dice and microwave the veg and blitz it into a purple puree.  I've also separated the eggs so you get lots of air into the mix at the end by adding the beaten egg whites at the last minute.  Altogether, this recipe takes quite a long time to make and you need to be prepared for the amount of washing up required afterwards - but the end results are amazingly well worth it!

For a party to welcome home our friends James, Kate and their new baby Nia, I chopped them into inch squares and piped on a blob of cream whipped with cocoa powder and icing sugar, and added a raspberry to the top of each one.  Pretty!