It was just after Christmas…..

……. and I wanted to make brownies for a group of mums who bring their pre-school children to our church building for activities each week. I had lots of glace cherries left from my pre-Christmas baking and also extra oranges. So, here’s the result and what a nice one it is too – brownies with lovely flavour and a superb gooey texture.

Makes: 9 – 20 pieces depending how big you want them. (I wasn’t sure how many mums would turn up so played safe and cut it into 20 pieces – about two bites each, a bit small maybe.)

Time: About 60 min making and baking with a couple of “waiting periods” along the way

Level: Easy

Equipment: A 20cm (8”) square baking tin

Ingredients

175g/6oz glace cherries
2 – 3 large oranges
100g/3½oz unsalted butter
250g/9oz golden caster sugar
75g/2½oz golden syrup
300g/10oz dark chocolate, broken into pieces + about 25g/1oz for decorating
4 medium eggs
75g/2½oz plain flour + 1 tbsp for the cherry pieces

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C / fan 140°C / 325°F /Gas 3. Butter & line the tin.

2. Rinse the cherries and dry them on kitchen paper. Cut into halves. Reserve sufficient halves to put one or more on each of the cut brownies then chop the remainder a little finer. Put them in a bowl or a bag with 1Tbsp flour and mix or shake well.

3. Zest of the oranges into a medium saucepan. Juice the oranges and pour into the saucepan. Bring to a boil. Maintain a rolling boil until the liquid has reduced and become thicker. Pour onto the chocolate pieces. Leave for a few minutes then stir to mix. (If the hot liquid doesn’t melt the chocolate put it all in the microwave for a couple of 30 second blasts on high, or use a bain marie.)

4. In another saucepan, melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup until smooth. Remove from the heat and add the orange chocolate. Mix well.

5. Whisk the eggs and beat into the chocolate mixture then sift in the flour and stir in the small flour-covered cherry pieces.

6. Pour into the tin and smooth out if it needs it. Bake for about 30 minutes. (When baked it will be a little springy in the middle and the edges will be firmer.)

7. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for half an hour then invert onto a cutting board and remove the baking paper.

8. Cut the slab using a hot knife. Melt about 25g/1oz chocolate and brush it over the brownies then add half a cherry to each. (If you cut your slab into large pieces then use 2 or 3 cherry halves on each.)