Recipe - Valentine's Day Dark Muscovado Brownies (not the healthy kind)

 These brownies rock my world.  Universally voted by all who try them as being "the best brownies ever", I have been asked to publish this in time for a last-minute Valentine's bake-off.

Muscovado sugar, with its consistency similar to palm sugar, is the secret weapon.  Don't bother using its poor cousin, brown sugar or even palm sugar.  Muscovado has a taste all of its own which permeates the finished brownie.  It really is worth buying it for the taste.

A word of warning though: cut the brownies into small pieces because like Bill Gates, they're really really rich.

Valentine's Day Dark Muscovado Brownies

Ingredients

350g dark chocolate (55-70% cocoa solids)
200g unsalted butter
250g or 1 1/4 cupes dark muscovado sugar
3 large free range eggs
70g or 2/3 cup plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt


Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C or 325 degrees F.  Butter and line a brownie tin or deep square cake tin.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heat proof bowl over a pan of hot water or in a microwave on medium and stir until smooth.

Place the sugar in a bowl and if it is slightly lumpy, remove the lumps with your fingers.  Microwaving can help this process.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Slowly add this to the melted chocolate mixture, stirring well.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and pinch of salt and gently fold together.  Tip mixture into the tin and bake for 35 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out with moist crumbs.  It should also feel just firm when you place the palm of your hand gently on top (don't burn yourself though!).

Remove tin on to a wire rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes and then cut into pieces.  The recipe recommends 16: I made mine about 3cms x 3cms.  Better to come back for more than create a pain barrier you regret.  Leave until completely cold before removing the brownies, which, can be torture.  Best to leave the house for a few hours so you don't pick, like hubby did below ;-)