Name: Chocolate Brownies
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 145 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 185 g butter, unsalted; 185 g dark chocolate (good-quality plain dark chocolate); 85 g plain flour; 40 g cocoa powder; 50 g white chocolate; 50 g milk chocolate; 3 large eggs; 275 g fine golden caster sugar (regular caster sugar also works); 1 tsp vanilla extract; 0.25 tsp salt

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180 °C (conventional; 160 °C fan) and line a 20 cm square tin with baking parchment.
Put the butter and the dark chocolate, in pieces, in a bowl and melt over a pan of hot water, stirring occasionally. Take the bowl off the water and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together into a bowl. Chop the white and milk chocolate into pieces.
Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla with a hand mixer on high speed for 3 to 8 minutes, until the mixture is thick, pale and about doubled in volume.
Gently fold in the cooled chocolate mixture with a spatula, then sift the flour and cocoa mixture over it once more and fold in just as carefully; better to stop a little too early than to mix too long. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
Pour the batter into the tin, level the surface and bake for 25 minutes. If the middle still wobbles, bake for another 5 minutes, until the surface has a shiny, paper-thin crust and the edge pulls away slightly from the tin.
Leave the brownies to cool completely in the tin, then lift out and cut into 16 squares.

Drink with it

Dark beer · excellent match
Imperial stout or milk stout, not too cold
The coffee and cocoa notes of the stout merge with the chocolate, and the bitterness keeps the sugar in check.
Which beer goes with food? More than just pils with barbecue
Fortified wine · excellent match
Ruby port or LBV, lightly chilled
Dark berry fruit and residual sweetness stand up to the sweet, bitter chocolate, and the alcohol cuts through the butter.
Port wine: understanding Ruby, Tawny, and Vintage
Aged rum · excellent match
Aged rum, neat or with an ice cube
Toffee, vanilla and cocoa from the barrel mirror the chocolate, and the sweetness of the brownie carries the alcohol.
Drinking rum neat: how to get to know a bottling
Mezcal · good match
Mezcal joven, neat in small sips
Bitter chocolate and roasted flavours find a counterpart in the smoky mezcal, much as in a mole.
Tequila and Mezcal: What's the Difference?
Sherry-cask whisky · good match
Sherry-cask whisky, neat with a splash of water
Dried fruit and cocoa notes from the sherry cask combine with dark chocolate and nuts.
What Does the Cask Do to Whisky?

Why it pairs well

Port and stout are the classic chocolate partners; mezcal is the surprising smoky option, reminiscent of a mole.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180 °C (conventional; 160 °C fan) and line a 20 cm square tin with baking parchment.
Put the butter and the dark chocolate, in pieces, in a bowl and melt over a pan of hot water, stirring occasionally. Take the bowl off the water and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together into a bowl. Chop the white and milk chocolate into pieces.
Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla with a hand mixer on high speed for 3 to 8 minutes, until the mixture is thick, pale and about doubled in volume.
Gently fold in the cooled chocolate mixture with a spatula, then sift the flour and cocoa mixture over it once more and fold in just as carefully; better to stop a little too early than to mix too long. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
Pour the batter into the tin, level the surface and bake for 25 minutes. If the middle still wobbles, bake for another 5 minutes, until the surface has a shiny, paper-thin crust and the edge pulls away slightly from the tin.
Leave the brownies to cool completely in the tin, then lift out and cut into 16 squares.

Drink with it

Dark beer · excellent match
Imperial stout or milk stout, not too cold
The coffee and cocoa notes of the stout merge with the chocolate, and the bitterness keeps the sugar in check.
Which beer goes with food? More than just pils with barbecue
Fortified wine · excellent match
Ruby port or LBV, lightly chilled
Dark berry fruit and residual sweetness stand up to the sweet, bitter chocolate, and the alcohol cuts through the butter.
Port wine: understanding Ruby, Tawny, and Vintage
Aged rum · excellent match
Aged rum, neat or with an ice cube
Toffee, vanilla and cocoa from the barrel mirror the chocolate, and the sweetness of the brownie carries the alcohol.
Drinking rum neat: how to get to know a bottling
Mezcal · good match
Mezcal joven, neat in small sips
Bitter chocolate and roasted flavours find a counterpart in the smoky mezcal, much as in a mole.
Tequila and Mezcal: What's the Difference?
Sherry-cask whisky · good match
Sherry-cask whisky, neat with a splash of water
Dried fruit and cocoa notes from the sherry cask combine with dark chocolate and nuts.
What Does the Cask Do to Whisky?

Why it pairs well

Port and stout are the classic chocolate partners; mezcal is the surprising smoky option, reminiscent of a mole.

Chocolate Brownies

Preparation

Drink with it

Imperial stout or milk stout, not too cold

Ruby port or LBV, lightly chilled

Aged rum, neat or with an ice cube

Mezcal joven, neat in small sips

Sherry-cask whisky, neat with a splash of water

This pairs well too.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Mousse (Mousse au Chocolat)

Churros with Chocolate Sauce

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Brownies

Preparation

Drink with it

Imperial stout or milk stout, not too cold

Ruby port or LBV, lightly chilled

Aged rum, neat or with an ice cube

Mezcal joven, neat in small sips

Sherry-cask whisky, neat with a splash of water

This pairs well too.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Mousse (Mousse au Chocolat)

Churros with Chocolate Sauce

Flourless Chocolate Cake