Hummingbird Bakery Classic Brownies

Well, off for a uni gathering in Bath this weekend so thought I'd do a little bake for the troops - as i'd missed all of their birthdays due to galavanting around India and determinned by January purse strings, I thought I'd treat them to a birthday esque bake!!! And what else is a winner other than the Classic hummingbird bakery brownie?!
Pressure on though as my sister in law has baked these on many occasions and they never fail!

Ingredients
- 200g Dark Chocolate roughly chopped
- 175g Unsalted Butter
- 325g Caster Sugar
- 130g Plain Flour
- 3 Eggs
- Icing Sugar

a 33 x 23 x 5cm Baking tray lined with greaseproof paper

Method

1. Prehead the over to 170 degrees
2. Line the tin with greaseproof paper
3. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and leave until melted and smooth
4. I gave it a little stir to combine the remaining butter and chocolate together to ensure it was fully mixed and smooth
5. Remove the Chocolate mixture from the heat and add the sugar - still until all incorporated.
6. Now add the flour and still well - ensuring all are coated and combined.
7.Whist the eggs and add to the mixture and stir until thick and smooth - i found that the mixture became glossy in appearance
8. Once all combined and mixed - spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for approximately 30-35 mintues.

The recipe advised that around the 30minute mark  to check the brownie to ensure that the edges didn't become overcooked as they can become crunchy and hard. I found that 35minutes was perfect time, - flaky on the top and a soft centre (as desired) and removed from the oven and left to cool.
Once cooled i cut them up into small brownie size squares - obviously could do any size porton, but i felt the smaller brownie is always a winner as they are gloriously chocolately!
Once cooled and cut i dusted with icing sugar.

The recipe suggests that 12 are made, however as i cut mine into smaller squares I had more than 12, so set some aside for the Uni gals, and guess what - the office feeder strikes again!! I brought the rest into work - this time the Birmingham office!
Feedback - squidgy on the inside, flaky and a crunch on the outside, and a nice chocolatey flavour.

I will definitely make them again, and perhaps even attempt to rival the sister in law with them!!

Cornflake tart - nostalgic bake

As this month is nostalgic bake topic.. I opted for a cornflake tart!

For me this is steeped in memory because it is a bake that I use to have at school.. was a perk to a school lunch.. That and cowboy pie!!! It just connotes happy school memories, and as something that I haven't really seen elsewhere, it has complete school days association.

I obviously had an idea of the recipe, but searched the internet for one as the cookery books I had at home didn't have a recipe in. The recipe I used is from www.allrecipes.co.uk.

Ingredients:
- 55g Unsalted Butter
- 25g Dark brown sugar
- 115g Golden Syrup
- 85g Cornflakes
- 1 pinch of salt (I ommitted this)
- Pastry recipe/ready to use shortcut pastry
- 100g Strawberry Jam

Tart Tin

Method:
1. I rolled out the pastry and lined the greased tart tin with it - trimming the edges. I lined it with baking parchment and filled it with baking beans and placed in the oven for 20mins at 200 degrees.

2. Whilst the pastry was baking, I got to work on the ingredients. I melted the butter in the pan, and added the sugar until it had combined and disolved in the butter. I then added the golden syrup, constantly stirring.

3. I removed the pastry from the oven and removed the baking parchment to allow the pastry to become golden brown and baked for a further 5 minutes.
4. I removed the mixture from the heat and poured in the cornflakes and combining them with the mixture, ensuring that all the cornflakes are coated in the mixture. Once all coated - I put the jam on the base and spread out evenly. The recipe suggests that the jam should be warmed, however i find that warming jam makes it too liquidy, so I felt the the heat from the pastry would be enough to warm the jam without it becoming to liquidy.
Once the jam was spread out evenly, I added the cornflake mixture - spreading it out evenly across the top.
I popped the tart in the oven for 5 minutes and allowed to cool once removed.

This recipe was super easy and quick, I did wonder if the tart would taste the same or come close to the flavour profile of the one I use to have at school... and it did!! Amazing!!! The taste is just as i remember. I opted for it without custard - the classic lumpy custard at school wasn't a firm favourite, so i stuck to it plain.
Obviously it's quite a sweet tasting dessert so the custard is good to help the flavouring.

Again - the office feeder strikes again - as I am in the Birmingham branch a different group of tasters to trial it on.. and the feedback was a resounding success. Flavour, consistency, and pastry all worked well together.
What I did notice that having made it the day before, the jam had obviously set better even after it had cooled, but I think that it would need to be eaten on the same day or at a push the day after due to the heavy consitency of the cornflakes - as it's a slightly wet mixture.