I’m a big fan of Alice Medrich, an American food writer who experiments with different flours, nuts, and chocolates. This recipe is based on her cakey brownie recipe and uses only cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate. I love coffee and chocolate, so here’s the combination. You can also use pecans or hazelnuts instead of walnuts.
timing
Preparation time: 15 minutes + cooling time
Cooking time: 40 minutes
service
Becomes 16-25
material
for brownies
- 140g butter, cut into pieces and added for grease
- 250g brown sugar
- Dissolve 1 teaspoon of instant coffee in 1 1/2 teaspoons of boiling water.
- 80g cocoa powder (sifted)
- 2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- 65g soft flour (sifted)
- 65g chopped walnuts
for icing
- 50g unsalted butter
- 100g powdered sugar (sifted)
- 10g cocoa powder (sifted)
- Dissolve 3 teaspoons of instant coffee (or espresso if you prefer a stronger flavor) in 1 1/2 teaspoons of boiling water.
- Chocolate coffee beans for decoration
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160C/150C fan/gas mark 3 and position the rack two-thirds of the way. Grease a 20cm square cake pan with butter, line it with two sheets of parchment paper, and line it up so it overhangs the edges so it’s easy to take out.
- For the brownies, heat the butter, sugar, coffee mixture, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a skillet very gently, stirring until the sugar has melted and emulsified.
- Turn off the heat, add cocoa powder and mix well. After it cools down a little, beat the eggs little by little, add the flour and walnuts, and mix. The dough should be smooth and shiny. Stir until no flour is visible and the mixture is warm but not hot.
- Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 minutes. Leave to cool in the can.
- For the icing, slowly melt the butter in a skillet, increase the heat and cook until golden and nutty. Let it cool.
- Mix powdered sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl. Stir in the cooled browned butter and gradually add the liquid coffee. Add more water as needed to help spread.
- Remove the cooled brownies from the mold using paper. Spread icing on top or cut into squares and then add ice, depending on your preference. Add chocolate coffee beans to each square.
