Recipes
Intense Dark 72% Brownies with a Crackly Crust
A real brownie should be dense, moist and intensely chocolatey — not airy like a sponge cake. The secret is good dark chocolate: our Dark 72% callets give a deep cocoa flavour, a slightly bitter counterpoint to the sugar and that distinctive glossy, cracked crust on top.
This is a fudge-style brownie: firm and almost creamy in the centre, with delicately crisp edges. The high cocoa-butter content keeps the bake moist for several days, with no need for artificial additives.
Ingredients
- 200 g Dark 72% chocolate callets
- 150 g butter
- 200 g sugar (ideally half white, half brown)
- 3 eggs (large, at room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 90 g plain flour
- 20 g unsweetened cocoa
- a pinch of salt
- optional: 80 g Dark 72% chocolate callets to fold through the batter
Method
- Heat the oven to 175°C (conventional). Line a roughly 20x20 cm tin with baking paper.
- Melt the butter and 200 g of the Dark 72% callets over a bain-marie or on low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Let it cool slightly.
- In a bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla for 3–4 minutes, until the mixture turns pale and thickens a little — this is the key to a glossy crust.
- Pour the lukewarm chocolate mixture into the eggs, gently folding with a spatula until combined.
- Sift in the flour, cocoa and salt, and fold through only until the streaks of flour disappear. Don't overmix.
- If using, fold in the extra 80 g of chocolate callets.
- Transfer the batter to the tin, level the top and bake for 25–30 minutes. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out with moist crumbs, but not raw batter.
- Cool completely in the tin, and only then cut into squares with a sharp knife.
Tip
Don't overbake — the brownie carries on cooking as it cools, and a shorter baking time gives you that fudgy centre. For an even deeper flavour, serve it slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a pinch of sea salt on top to bring out the intensity of the Dark 72% chocolate.
