Raspberry and Amaretto Chocolate Brownies
Just to let you know, this post was written before I started the paleo diet to help ease my psoriasis. Nowadays I eat a more allergy-friendly diet, but leave these older, non-paleo posts up in case they are useful to readers, as I know not everyone eats the same as I do. Thanks for your understanding.
Ever since I ate the Raspberry and Amaretto chocolate brownie from the Jamie's Italian stall at Eat Reading Live, I couldn't get it out of my mind. Intensely dark chocolate, sweet raspberries and the almond kick of Amaretto all dusted thickly with icing sugar. I knew I wanted to make a version at home, but make it healthier - lower in saturated fat, but with all the flavour of the original.
So here's my version: the brownies are made with mayonnaise, which is used instead of butter so although it does sound weird, you get a full-flavoured but lighter brownie. The recipe is adapted from one by Hellmann's but I tweaked the sugar, cocoa and chocolate quantities so the brownies didn't come out too sweet with all that liqueur and fruit in there.
I used frozen raspberries, because I always have some handy in the freezer, but use fresh if you have them. And if you don't have any Amaretto handy, either use a teaspoon of almond extract or just leave the liqueur out. These disappeared too quickly, but I did have in mind for them a fancy affogato-type dessert with a slab of the brownie, a scoop of vanilla or chocolate ice cream and then a drizzle of Amaretto poured over the top. But never mind. I'll just have to make them again, won't I?
Cuts into about 30-36 squares (depending on how chunky you cut them)
Ingredients:
- 40g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 35g cocoa powder
- 80g dark chocolate (I used Green and Black's)
- 3 eggs
- 170g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 110g Hellmann's mayonnaise
- 30ml Amaretto
- 150g frozen raspberries
Method:
- Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a bowl, mix together the flour, the baking powder and the cocoa. Make sure there aren't any lumps.
- Melt the chocolate - either gently, in the microwave, or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
- Whisk the eggs with the sugar, Amaretto and vanilla until it starts to thicken - now stir in the melted chocolate.
- Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Tip in the raspberries and fold in the mayonnaise until it's all combined and silky.
- Scrape into the baking tin and bake at 160°C for about 35 minutes until the brownies are fudgy but cooked through, with that crisp topping.
- Cool, cut into squares and dust liberally with icing sugar.
These sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteThank you! They were good - and much lighter than regular brownies :)
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