valentine's day white chocolate and raspberry brownies

valentine's day white chocolate and raspberry brownies

• 9 Feb 2015

Valentine's Day kind of snuck up on me this year. I looked through my files and found these images I shot last year for my Delicious Bites column. The post failed to run so rather than languish on my hard drive, I thought I'd share the images and recipe with you. 

I've been making these brownies for quite some time now and each time I make them I change the recipe a little. Some times I add a bit more white chocolate or an extra egg. Sometimes I'll add a little less flour or mix up the berries a bit. It's raspberry season here in Sydney so that's what I used this time but you certainly don't need to use fresh raspberries for these brownies; frozen raspberries are just as good.  As fresh raspberries are so delicate, I stud the brownie mixture with the raspberries instead of mixing them into the batter.

If you like, the brownies can be made entirely in one bowl so there's not too much washing up. These brownies are definitely cake like brownies rather than fudgey brownies so don’t be tempted to take them out before they’re fully cooked or they'll just taste like raw cake batter.

Once the brownies are baked and cooled, I often cut them into shapes before drizzling with a little melted white chocolate. I normally use a round cutter but in honour of Valentine’s Day I got busy with my heart shaped cutter. They’re perfect to give as gifts or to share with the ones you love.

Here’s the recipe for you. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Brownies
Ingredients
⅔ cup plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
125g/4 oz unsalted butter
75g (2½ oz) white chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 eggs
½ cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
¼ cup flaked almonds

To decorate
50 g (1¾ oz) white chocolate, melted

Method
Preheat oven to 350F°/180C°.

Line the base and sides of a 20 cm (8 in) square tin with baking paper.

Sift the flour with the baking powder into a small bowl and set to one side.

Melt the butter and the white chocolate in a large ovenproof bowl in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water.

Allow to cool a little before stirring in the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat lightly with a wooden spoon just till combined, then stir the flour into the mixture to make a batter.

Scatter about 1/3 of the raspberries over the base of the tin. Spread the batter into prepared pan. Press the remaining berries gently into the mixture then top with the flaked almonds.

Bake at 350F°/180C° (conventional oven) for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

When cool, cut the brownies into 2 inch squares or cut into heart shapes before drizzling with the extra melted chocolate.

Allow the chocolate to set before serving.




I'll see you all again next week with the first Plate 2 Plate post for 2015.

Until then, Happy Valentine's Day!

Jillian