Chocolate walnut brownie with hazelnut whisky cream

Name: Chocolate walnut brownie with hazelnut whisky cream
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 8-10
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 750g dark cooking chocolate, broken up; 250g butter; 250g castor sugar; 5 eggs; 1 vanilla bean, cut lengthways, seeds scraped out; 160g plain flour; 350g walnuts, roughly chopped

Darren Robertson and Mark LeBrooy

November 22, 2016

Three Blue Ducks' "too good to share" chocolate and walnut brownie with whisky cream.Edwina Pickles

easyTime:30 mins - 1 hourServes:8-10

We probably shouldn't be sharing this brownie recipe but it's too good not to. Straight out of the oven it is gooey and fudgy in the centre with some crunch on the outside. We like to cut it into fingers like a homemade chocolate bar. The whisky hazelnut cream is a perfect accompaniment to the rich slice. If kept in the fridge, the brownie loaf has a six-month shelf life, though it probably won't last that long!

Ingredients

For chocolate walnut brownie

750g dark cooking chocolate, broken up
250g butter
250g castor sugar
5 eggs
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthways, seeds scraped out
160g plain flour
350g walnuts, roughly chopped

For hazelnut whisky cream

500ml thickened cream
60ml good quality smoky whisky
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthways, seeds scraped out
1 tbsp castor sugar
150g toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 orange, finely zested

Method

For brownies
1. Preheat the oven to 170C (160C fan-forced) and grease and line a large loaf tin with baking paper; you can also use a 25x25-centimetre baking tin.
2. Put the chocolate and butter in a medium stainless steel bowl. Add a little water to a medium saucepan, then rest the bowl on top so it doesn't touch the water.
3. Heat the water and stir the chocolate and butter until they melt and the mix turns velvety and glossy.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla seeds until fluffy and pale. Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mix and fold together. Sift in the flour and stir until well combined, then fold in the walnuts.
5. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and place in the oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
6. Slice the loaf while still warm and serve with a generous dollop of whisky cream.
For whisky cream
6. Add the cream and vanilla seeds to a large stainless steel bowl. Using a balloon whisk or an electric mixer, start whisking the cream. When it's a little firmer, the same consistency as yoghurt, add the sugar. Whisk until it gets thicker, pour in the whisky, then whisk a little more to firm peaks.
7. Fold in the hazelnuts and the orange zest.