Ginger, pecan and rum chocolate brownies

I very much enjoyed Levi Roots’ recent TV series “Caribbean food made easy” and this brownie recipe was the stand out for me as it contains pretty much all my favourite things!

The only disappointment was the cooking time he gave in the recipe. The recipe says 20-25 minutes and mine hadn’t set at that point so I gave my brownies an extra 10 minutes whilst worrying they wouldn’t be squidgy anymore. You’ll see from the photos that I didn’t achieve set brownies but more a chocolate pudding which - don’t get me wrong – was absolutely divine! I’m just telling you this as next time I’d probably give them 40 minutes or so in the oven, but I know ovens vary so you will just have to judge it for your oven.

The flavour combination is perfect and all the flavours and textures are distinct at different times. It would be very difficult to go back to a plain chocolate brownie after these!

I served them freshly baked with clotted cream ice cream for dessert but they would be just as nice at room temperature with some cream or on their own.

Ingredients:
250g plain chocolate (70% cocoa), broken into pieces
250g unsalted butter
5 eggs
350g dark muscovado sugar
2 tablespoons rum (dark rum is best)
150g plain flour
125g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
4 balls stem ginger, finely chopped

To serve: ice cream or cream

Method

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

- Line a brownie pan (30cm x 20cm) with baking paper.

- In a bowl over a simmering pan of water, ensuring the bowl does not touch the water, melt the chocolate and butter. Stir occasionally.

- Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little.

- Beat together the eggs and sugar until well combined. As the sugar is heavy and granular the mixture won’t appear light and fluffy in the way that it would with caster sugar.

- Beat in the melted chocolate and butter and the rum.

- Fold in the flour.

- Fold in the pecan nuts and ginger.

- Pour (it will be very runny) into the prepared tin.

- Bake for a minimum of 25 minutes but it might take a lot longer. Ideally I think mine should have had 45-50 minutes but ovens vary so take care. When a skewer inserted into the middle only has a little residue on it, I’d say that’s done.

- Stand the brownie pan on a wire rack and leave to cool.

- Cut into squares.

- Either serve warm or at room temperature.

- Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

- Eat.