passover week 2020 molten chocolate skillet brownies

passover week 2020 molten chocolate skillet brownies

• 30 Mar 2020

Welcome to day one of Passover Week 2020. Goodness gracious the world has changed so much since I started baking for Passover week. Covid-19, social distancing and job losses to name but a few. Hopefully these recipes will provide some distraction for you all while you're self isolating.

When I first saw this recipe for a molten chocolate skillet brownie in Delicious magazine, I was intrigued by the thought of using a skillet for baking. I didn't own an ovenproof skillet at the time but once that hurdle was overcome, I looked closely at the recipe and realised it would be easy to make for Passover as it contained such a small quantity of flour.



I changed the proportions a little as is my wont and came up with my own version which came out very chocolately and very squidgy. Most Passover recipes are heavy on eggs and nuts but this is one recipe where you could leave the nuts out and not notice their absence.



As the brownie is made with oil, it's pareve and I'm sure it would be delicious served with almond milk or coconut milk ice cream. 



Here's the recipe for you which makes an 8 inch round molten chocolate brownie. 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 gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.



Molten chocolate skillet brownie inspired by this recipe
Ingredients
150g dark (70%) chocolate, chopped
½ cup (125ml) sunflower oil
¾ cup caster sugar
Seeds ½ vanilla bean
pinch sea salt flakes
2 whole eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
50g Passover mix sifted (equal quantities superfine matzo meal and potato starch)
2 tbs cocoa powder, sifted
100g peeled hazelnuts, skins removed and coarsely chopped
Extra 80g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 20 cm wide, 5 cm-deep, heavy-based oven-proof frying pan. (I used the Lodge 20cm cast iron skillet from Everten). Fill a small saucepan one-third full with water and bring to a gentle simmer. Place chocolate, oil, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt in a small heatproof bowl. Set bowl over pan and stir occasionally until chocolate mixture is melted (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Set aside to cool to room temperature.



Beat the eggs and egg yolk into chocolate mixture. Fold in the baking mix, cocoa and 60g of the hazelnuts, then spoon into prepared pan. Gently push about half the remaining chopped hazelnuts and the extra chocolate into batter, then bake for 30 minutes or until brownie has risen and come away slightly from edges of pan. The centre will still be liquid when tested. Stand for 5 minutes, then scatter with the remaining hazelnuts and serve with cream, ice cream or both if you prefer.

See you all again tomorrow with Day 2 of Passover week.

Bye for now,

Jillian