When Nadina and Matthias invited me over for dinner this weekend, I insisted on bringing dessert. They asked me whether I could bring along something with chocolate. They are currently both finishing their final university papers and seemed in desperate need of comfort food. Brownies, of course, were the first thing that came to my mind. So I began to browse through my baking books in search of a brownie recipe I hadn't tried before. And I found one. You want comfort food?! I give you comfort food. As for consistency, these brownies are just what brownies should be like. The flavor of the Baileys goes wonderfully with the dark chocolate and a hint of coffee. Final touch: the hazelnut topping.
Recipe
(from the wonderful Sweets by Nicky Stich)
200g dark chocolate
150g butter
1/2 teaspoon coffee powder
3 eggs
150g brown sugar
50g white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
125g flour
25g cocoa powder
60ml Baileys
50g chopped hazelnuts
Preheat the oven to 190°C and line a brownie tin (about 20x20) with parchment paper.
Coarsely chop the dark chocolate and, together with the butter and the coffee powder, melt over a hot water bath in a metal bowl, stirring occasionally.
In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the sugar and beat for at least 3 minutes until creamy. Add chocolate-butter-mixture, cinnamon and salt. Then, sift in flour and cocoa and mix. Then, add Baileys and beat until all is well combined.
Fill your dough into the prepared tin and smoothen with a ladle. Then, sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts on top. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 25-30 minutes. They should not be thoroughly baked, otherwise, they will go dry too soon. If the middle is still a bit wobbly at the end of the baking time, that's perfect.
Let cool in your tin first, then release from the baking tin and let cool completely.
