Valentine’s brownie with raspberry buttercream & chocolate sauce

Ingredients

Brownie

• 170g plain flour
• 230g butter
• 125g 70% chocolate
• 320g brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 4 medium eggs
• pinch salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Buttercream

• 250g butter
• 250g icing sugar
• 10 raspberries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Chocolate sauce

• 50g dark chocolate
• 25g butter
• 125ml cream
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar

Method

1. Place the butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl, place this over a pot of gently simmering water and melt.
2. Once melted add the brown sugar and stir in.
3. To this add the eggs and vanilla essence and mix.
4. Finally add in the flour, salt and baking powder and fold in until all the flower is incorporated.
5. Place this in a lined baking tray (14”x10.5”) and place in a preheated oven at 160ºC for 30 minutes.
6. Once baked allow to cool to room temperature and then place in a fridge for 2 hours to firm up.
7. When completely cold, taking your heart cutter, Cut out 8 hearts. Keep all the trimmings as they are great in an Eton mess, trifle or simply with tea!
8. The buttercream is very simple, in a bowl, beat the butter, raspberries, vanilla essence and icing sugar until smooth and airy. Place this into a piping bag fitted with a circle nozzle and pipe on top of one of the hearts.
9. Place another brownie heart on top and pipe on more buttercream. Continue to compete 4 brownie stacks.
10. For the chocolate sauce, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of gently simmering water.
11. In a small saucepan, heat up the cream, butter and caster sugar.
12. Pour this over the melted chocolate and combine.

Best served warm