Fudgy Brownies

Ingredients

• 200 g dark chocolate (70%)
• 180 g butter
• 250 g caster sugar
• 3 pieces eggs
• 100 g plain flour
• 30 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 0.5 tsp fine salt

Steps

1. 1
   Heat the oven to 175C and line a 20 cm square tin.
2. 2
   Melt the chocolate and butter together over a pan of simmering water, then take off the heat.
3. 3
   Whisk the sugar into the warm chocolate and leave it 5 minutes.
4. 4
   Whisk in the eggs one at a time and then beat hard for a full minute — this is what creates the thin, shiny, crackled top.
5. 5
   Sift over the flour, cocoa and salt and fold just until no streaks remain. Stop there; more mixing means cake, not brownie.
6. 6
   Pour into the tin and bake 25-28 minutes. A skewer should come out with moist crumbs, never clean.
7. 7
   Cool completely in the tin before cutting. Chill for an hour first if you want perfectly sharp edges.