Monday 29 November 2010

Hummingbird Bakery Traditional Brownie


Continuing on my search for the perfect brownie, I decided to try the traditional brownie from the hummingbird bakery. It was nice, moist and chocolatey with a lovely flaky, crunchy top that I like. Its a bit more cakey and less gooey than Nigella's brownies. Which sort of brownie do you prefer? 



 melt chocolate and butter 

 add sugar 

 add flour

 add eggs 

 ready to go in the oven 

 i love the flaky top 


 sprinkle with icing sugar 







200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
175g unsalted butter
325g caster sugar
130g plain flour
3 eggs
icing sugar to decorate


  • Preheat the oven to 170C.
  • Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water).
  • Leave until melted and smooth.
  • Remove from the heat.
  • Add the sugar and stir until well incorporated.
  • Add the flour and stir until well incorporated.
  • Finally stir in the eggs and mix until thick and smooth.
  • Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until flaky on the top but still soft in the centre.
  • Be careful not to overcook otherwise the edges will become hard and crunchy.
  • Leave to cool completely before dusting with icing sugar, to decorate.

9 comments:

  1. A brownie quest - fantastic idea
    ;0)
    I prefer gooey brownies if I'm bieng honest. My all time faves are Nigella's Snowflecked Brownies (a heart attck in every bite!)

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  2. I think my ultimate brownie would be kind of gooey with a nice crackly crust on the outside. Mmmm... getting hungry just thinking about it LOL.
    *kisses* HH

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  3. What a great search! This looks like a keeper. I love moist too with a flaky crust...so it sounds perfect!

    My two favourite brownie recipes are these:
    http://bakingwithfrench.blogspot.com/2010/10/nearly-flourless-chocolate-cake-or.html
    http://bakingwithfrench.blogspot.com/2010/09/mint-chocolate-brownies.html (omit the mint though)

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  4. The gooey-er the better!
    I still favour an old James Martin recipe from BBC Food.
    Sadly it's not on the new website, but it is as follows:

    ngredients
    340g/12oz dark chocolate
    255g/9oz unsalted butter
    3 medium eggs
    255g/9oz dark muscovado sugar
    110g/4oz plain flour
    1 tsp baking powder
    pinch of salt
    For variation:
    55g/2oz raspberries, unsalted pistachios, hazelnuts or white chocolate pieces


    Method
    1.Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and butter a 23cm/9in cake tin.
    2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.
    3. In a bowl, over a pan of hot water, melt the chocolate and butter together.
    4. Whisk the eggs and slowly add the sugar. Beat in the chocolate mixture and gently fold in the flour.
    5. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 35 minutes until the surface is set but a skewer comes out with a little of the mixture clinging to it.
    6. Remove and cool slightly before placing on a wire rack to cool.
    7. Cut into pieces and keep in a tin or in the fridge.
    For variations:
    1.Follow the recipe until stage 4.
    2. After you have folded in the flour, add your chosen ingredient.
    3. Proceed as per the base recipe.

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  5. Gooey with a hard crust would please me. When I get a chance I am going to try Choclette's recent recipe and see how they turn out. Yours looks delicious. I am putting the kettle on and I can imagine eating one.

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  6. @chele - i'll have to try nigella's snowflecked brownies then. i made one of hers recently which was extremely gooey.
    @Heavenly Housewife - me too!
    @Brittany - thanks for the recipes
    @Gill - thanks also for the recipe
    @Kath - Did you try out the brownie recipe?

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  7. Gooey and squidgy and definitely not dry but with a crisp top. I too am out to find the best brownie recipe, but I mostly think the latest is the best, so unless you line them all up together, it's a bit of a tough challenge I reckon. Haven't posted my latest yet, but now consider that to be the best!!!

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  8. I love this brownie recipe, it's the one I turn to most often. I think it's got the best gooey to cakey ratio, it's almost fudgy in consistency. I recently had a play around with it by adding stem ginger and the results we're awesome!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment - it's reminded me to use this recipe again which I've forgotten about in favour of a newer recipe I've been using. I'm not a fan of stem ginger but I know lots of people who are!

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