Creme Egg Brownies!
So Easter Saturday came, one more day until a delicious day of sweet heaven. What better way to spend a day than buying my sweet treats for Easter Sunday and putting myself through the purgatory of baking.
Purgatory? Wait a minute you may ask…I thought you enjoyed baking? Yes, I absolutely adore baking, especially baking sweet treats, however I hadn’t baked sugary delights for nearly 7 weeks. My sister made a chocolate cake for work and it had me salivating at the smell. I didn’t even get involved for fear that I’d completely lose control and lick my fingers or to be more precise pick up the bowl and put my head in it.
So baking on Saturday was purgatory. Why bake on the Saturday and not the Sunday, you may ask? Well, in short, there wasn’t going to be enough time. My kitchen space and time had already been restricted by my mother who seemed to have got her religious holidays mixed up and had planned to re-cook Christmas dinner. So, it had to be Saturday and the plus point (in my head) was that they would be ready and waiting once midnight came.
Christmas dinner again!
As you may be aware, a certain Easter recipe has been doing the rounds on social media. Ingenious marketing by Cadbury’s has seen this recipe metaphorically explode onto all of our computer screens and have us chomping at the bit to recreate it in all its gooey chocolatey glory. So, obviously in my chocolate lusting state I had earmarked this recipe to try out asap. Creme Egg chocolate brownies it was!
Gooey, melting and exploding Creme Eggs!
This certainly wasn’t the most taxing recipe. It was incredibly easy to follow and quick. The beauty of this is that anyone can re-create it from the elderly to young children. I started by melting the chocolate and butter. Now this can sometimes lead to problems. If I have to watch another person on Come Dine With Me create a grainy chocolate mess I may have to shout at the TV screen, because in actuality melting chocolate and butter is relatively easy, whether you do this over a pan of hot water or in the microwave.
Dark cooking chocolate broken into pieces
Personally, I prefer to melt my chocolate and butter in the microwave. Break the cooking chocolate up into small chunks according to the required quantity and cut the correct amount of butter into small lumps and put both in a bowl. Heat in intervals of 30-40 seconds and stir in between. Within a few minutes the chocolate and butter will be melted to perfection. Stir and resist the urge to put the spoon in your mouth. This was the height of temptation.
Melted chocolate and butter…mmm
After mixing the sugar and eggs using an electric mixer until it reached a thick milkshake consistency, I folded in the chocolate mixture and then the flour and cocoa powder. The recipe could be a little more detailed I thought, for novices. The electric mixing stage took a good 5 minutes and a folding tip could be useful, so the cook doesn’t take all the air out of the mixture.
Whisking the sugar and eggs
Folding in the melted chocolate creating a marbled effect
sift the flour and cocoa powder
Personally I cut through the middle of the mixture in a straight line and tipping the bowl circle under the mixture, repeating with the cut and circling motion, folding delicately. Once all the ingredients are combined, the recipe states to pour into a rectangular baking tin.
Folding the mixture
As per usual, I deviated from the recipe. I thought it would be easier to not have to cut the brownies after cooking, according to where the Creme Eggs were placed. I decided it would be easier, different and more innovative to put my mixture into bun tins. As a result, I was left with ‘fried egg shaped’ brownies.
Well greased bun tins
I made sure I thoroughly greased the tins and poured in the mixture. I then popped them in the oven for 15 mins. During this time, I cut my Creme Eggs in half. I had wanted to use the smaller Creme Eggs that come in a bag, partly as I thought they would not be as sickly and secondly, they wouldn’t be as calorific. Unfortunately, I could only buy the bigger ones.
Spoon the mixture into bun tins
To be honest, cutting the eggs in half was the trickiest part of the recipe. Some of the eggs cut in half perfectly, the rest broke up. I’m not altogether sure whether they would have cut easier if they had been put in the fridge. After 15 mins elapsed, I pushed my Creme Eggs into the top of the mixture. Then I put them back into the oven for longer than the 10 mins which the recipe stated, as they needed longer.
Pop on the Creme Egg halves pushing in gently
The delicious chocolatey aroma filled the room when the brownies were taken out of the oven. I let them cool down before scooping them out of the tins. Some of the eggs had melted, some had left the impression of having exploded, so a few weren’t as attractive as I would have hoped, but otherwise they looked appealing.
Et voila! Creme Egg Brownies!
My first taste was breakfast on Easter Sunday, after consuming a Toffee Crisp at 2am. (I’m not entirely sure why I chose this but it tasted good!) Brownie for breakfast seemed like a good idea. In all, the brownie tasted delicious. In retrospect, I should have only eaten half. They were a little too big and over chocolatey. If I was to make them again, I’d definitely use the smaller Creme Eggs if I could source them. However, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who like the brownies in all their chocolateyness. Cadbury’s were certainly on to a winner this year. I wonder what they’ll come up with next year?! How will we eat ours?
Creme Egg Brownies
What you need
185g unsalted butter
185g cooking dark chocolate
40g cocoa powder
85g plain flour
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar
6 Cadbury Creme Eggs, halved.
Method
1) Preheat your oven to 160C and grease your bun tins. Sieve the cocoa and flour together, removing any lumps. Melt the chopped butter and dark chocolate together either in the microwave or in a bowl over boiling water.
2) Break the eggs into a large bowl and tip in the golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until they look thick and creamy, like a thick milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes. You will know it’s ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume.
3) Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the mousse, and then gently fold together.
4) Hold a sieve over the mixture and shake the flour and cocoa mix over the top, fold in again.
5) Pour into the bun tins and cook for 15 mins. Cut the room temperature creme eggs in half.
6) Take the brownies out of the oven and gently press the creme egg halves into the centre of the mixture.
7) Return to the oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes depending on your oven, check every 5 minutes. Leave to cool before removing from the tin.
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Your brownies look really rich and decadent! I wouldn’t have had your self-restraint or willpower; I would have licked the beaters, even if it was before midnight!