Love For Food: Blooming choco-orange brownies & clutter rants :)

Chocolate-Orange Brownies

Indulging in a bit of chocolate and some refreshing oranges this weekend… baked a simple yet ‘fulfilling’ choco-orange brownie sheet.

The brownie recipe per say, was less though of… Allow me to put it this way: come Saturday and ‘K’ is on a tidying up rampage. That’s my husband- a cleanliness stick on. Not that I don’t appreciate his help in keeping this place as it seems… uncluttered and cosy; he likes his living space neat and tidy. I on the other hand; enjoy clutter (read organised clutter). In the past years though, ‘uncluttered yet cosy’ as an oxymoron is the other side of life and a part of my living space… and somehow, when I no longer have to rummage the house for the nail cutter; I realise the values of living with a man (uncluttered) with a panache for keeping things where they belong (the odd band aid strips from the kitchen drawer to its rightful medicine cabinet). Yet, not all of that is me is lost in translation. Within the structured life of this apartment are exclusive spaces, all mine (clutters) and ‘K’ is barred from these spots J (For instance my work desk; book racks and a few more).

Speaking of the Saturday cleaning spree… I pooled in too; not with pure intention of cleaning up the fridge (he would have done that as well) but as an impromptu raid (Like: let’s see what’s left in there).

9 oranges, 2 large bars of dark chocolate… forever there was a bottle of vanilla extract; besides host of edible bits and pieces (things I constantly wrap up for latter use).

Don’t let ‘K’ know there is chocolate in the fridge… if he were to have his ways; he’d have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner… Uncluttered and with sweet tooth J

This day, he eyes the chocolate bars and tells me ‘I recon that’s a part of my reward (read: I am tidying up and I deserve some of that)’ …

…just a second latter; he looked at (the mess) around the laptop (books, highlighters, camera, batteries, books, papers, envelopes… name it and it’s likely I might just have it there. Two and a half meter of my world…)

Sensing what was to come next I sent him a ‘look’ feeler (read: very effective girlie tool; literally involves: throwing up my hands in the air and freezing while the look says it all: What? Please can you not go there… that clutter is work?)

Cue successful… ‘K’ backs out. My space survives :)

On the other hand: the fridge raid over: I decided upon doing up some brownies. A few quick flicks of pages latter I am decided: its going be Jamie Oliver’s ‘Blooming Brilliant Brownies’ minus the dry fruits!

The recipe’s right there in his website (if you like) and I can’t stop saying how good this recipe is (with or without the cherries and chopped nuts).

This is what I did … see for yourself if it works out :)

100 gms Coco powder

100 gms Plain flour

1 Orange, zest and juice

200 gms Unsalted butter (at room temperature)

200 gms Dark chocolate, broken into bits

250 gms Caster sugar

4 Eggs

Serve with crème fraîche

Method:

Line a 25 cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper.

First up: Shift the flour, coco powder and baking powder (superstitious I am not yet, I always shift thrice; be it brownies or cakes (not for bread though). That’s to let in air into the dry mix). Into the same mixing bowl, tip in the sugar and amalgamate using a fork.

In a pan of simmering water, lower a heat proof bowl with the chocolate bits and butter (The trick is to take the pot off the hob once the water’s boiling. Chocolate is best melted like this as this ingredient doesn’t taste nice if you use high heat. Besides, it will loose its silky shimmer with harsh heat. The steam from the pan should do enough to melt the chocolate and the butter.)

Now, comes the mixing bit. Tip in the flour-coco mix; to that add the chocolate butter mix-using a wooden spoon mix well.

Beat the eggs separately and fold it in to the other mix. Amalgamate well. Last up: add the orange zest and the juice. Fold again until you have a silky consistency. (To avoid the mix from splitting-add the juice a little at a time while constantly folding).

Pour the brownie mix into the baking tin and to settle everything: place the tin in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. This gives a much denser texture and a brilliant crust.

In the meantime …. Pre-heat oven to 180 degree C (or 160 degree C for fan oven).

Now, bake for around 25 minutes. Check if the brownie’s done by inserting a skewer in the centre. If it comes out clean: we are done! And yes, as it is with this recipe: we have a nice crust and gooey inside.

Cheers to Jamie Oliver but then we did tweak the recipe a bit and with equally brilliant results.