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When I was last home in New Zealand, my mother was purging the house. I was curious to see what had made the cut, so went to inspect her 'donate to charity' pile.... and lo' and behold! Staring up at me from on top of her give-away pile was a familiar friend.

The classic spiral binding.

The faded cover illustration of the sunrise.

The time yellowed paper.

"How could you give away your EDMONDS COOKERY BOOK???" I exclaimed in horror!

Mother told me to calm down, because she had simply replaced our old Edmonds cookbook (Circa 1992) with the newer, brighter, shiny hardback version (edition 69). I indignantly pointed out that different editions featured slightly different recipes.

As I lovingly leafed through the dogged pages, and took in the odd note penciled in the margins, I realised I could not part with this treasure. Like many Kiwi girls, the Edmonds cookery book was my first companion in the kitchen, guiding me through the basics.

My favourite recipe was the Coconut Chocolate Brownies (Page 44). I made this brownie for a school market, replacing the coconut with chocolate and under baking to achieve a fudgier texture.

Over the years I have played with the recipe, adding cream cheese, peanut butter, fruit preserves, different types of confectionery, flavorings or sauces to this brownie base. My most recent experiment was a triple chocolate raspberry variation with the following changes to the original recipe.

  • Increased the cocoa powder, for intensity of flavour
  • Swapped coconut for double volume of chocolate (splitting up when this was added to the batter)
  • Reduction in sugar & butter, to off-set the addition of so much chocolate!
  • Addition of raspberries, to provide tartness to contrast the chocolate
  • Lowered temperature and baking time.

It seems to have been a success, as I've had a few requests for the recipe... so here is my attempted write-up.

Ingredients

Makes 1 x 20cm (8") Square tin | Prep Time: 10 mins | Bake Time: 25 Mins

  • 115g Butter
  • 1/2 cup Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)
  • 3/4 cup Brown Sugar (loosely packed)
  • 2 Eggs (mine were 55-60g each)
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence (or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste)
  • 1/4 cup Dark Chocolate chips/pieces (Plus 1 Tablespoon for sprinkling )
  • 1/4 cup Milk Chocolate chips/pieces
  • 1/4 cup White Chocolate chips/pieces (Plus 1 Tablespoon for sprinkling)
  • 3/4 cup Plain White Flour (see note)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen not thawed (Plus 1 Tablespoon chopped for sprinkling)
  • 1 Tablespoon Icing Sugar (for dusting)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 170C or 350F, and line your baking tray with non-stick paper.
  2. Melt butter in a small pot.
  3. Add cocoa to the pot, and stir over low heat for 1 minute.
  4. Take the pot off heat, and add in the sugar which will partially melt.
  5. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
  6. Mix in the vanilla.
  7. Mix in half of the milk and dark chocolate. This chocolate will partially melt into the batter but also begin to cool the batter down.
  8. Sift in the flour and salt. Mix until combined.
  9. Fold through the remaining chocolate (half the milk and dark, and all the white) and the raspberries.
  10. Pour into the pan, and sprinkle (or position if you are pendantic :P) the extra 1 Tablespoon each of dark/white chocolate chips and Raspberries bits.
  11. Place in the centre of your heated oven and bake for ~25 mins (bake for longer if you want it less fudgey and more cakey). The centre should still be just a tiny bit jiggly in the middle, but a crust and skin should have clearly formed.
  12. Leave to cool in the pan for 10-15 mins (if you try to move it too fast it might crack) then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
  13. Once completely cooled, dust with icing sugar.
  14. Slice with a sharp knife (wiping it down between each cut, to keep your slices clean).
  15. Serve with cream, yoghurt or ice cream with extra berries on the side!
  16. Store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.... to be honest, it's never lasted this long in my house without being eaten!

Notes

  • Chocolate: I used a mixture of Ghiradelli 60% cacao dark chocolate chips, Belgian White Chocolate chips and Tesco's milk chocolate tablet (broken into pieces). Do not use compound chocolate, it will give you a completely different texture!
  • Baking Tin: To ensure a satisfying brownie crust, I recommend using a a dark non-stick pan, not a glass dish or light coloured aluminium pan.
  • Flour: One of the secrets to fudgey brownie is not to have too much flour which can create gluten when mixed. To measure your flour "fluff" it up with a for or spoon, and measure it out by using a spoon to fill your measuring cups before measuring. You don't want to scoop the flour straight from the container using thhe measuring cups as the flour will be compacted. You could substitite the pain flour for self-raising, you'll just get a lighter texture (due to the air bubbles created by the leavening agent) in which case you must as well bake the brownie for a few mminutes longer and go for a cakier version.