Ask a Chef reveals the secrets of those superb dishes you ate in cafes and restaurants and wanted to try yourself.
Crema Cafe's chocolate brownies.
250g butter
250g rich, high-cocoa-content chocolate, broken into pieces
2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
3 tsp real vanilla essence
1 cup cocoa (use half Dutch* cocoa if you have it)
1 cup flour
125g white chocolate chunks (use high-quality chocolate)
½ cup pistachio nuts
½ cup chopped macadamia nuts
Melt butter gently, remove from heat and add chocolate, allowing the butter and chocolate to softly fuse together. While this is happening, mix the four eggs and vanilla essence.
Slowly stir in the caster sugar and cocoa, then the chocolate and butter mixture and vanilla essence, then flour. This mixture should be moist but don't overmix it. Fold in the nuts and white chocolate chunks.
Bake in the oven in a tin lined with baking paper, for 30 to 40 minutes at 170degC.
Leave brownie cake to sit uncut for a day. This will allow it to set. Use a sharp knife to attain a clean slice.
* Dutch-processed cocoa powder has been treated with an alkali to neutralise its natural acidity. It is darker and milder than a non-alkalised powder. Cadbury's cocoas are Dutch-processed.
Requested by Nicola Philip of Warrington. April Nijland of Crema Cafe in Karitane has sent us this recipe.
If you have enjoyed a dish in an Otago cafe or restaurant and would like the recipe, write to Ask a Chef, Features, Otago Daily Times, PO Box 181, Dunedin, or email odt.features@odt.co.nz, including your name, address and a daytime telephone number, and we will request it.
