Chocolate Brownies

Preheat oven to 160 C (fan ovens) or equivalent.

You will need a 22cm square brownie pan. Butter your pan and line the bottom with grease proof paper. To do this put your pan on the paper and draw around the outline to get a good fit. Cut it to fit, then put the paper into the dish shinier side up, smooth the paper down, taking particular care with the corners.

Break up the chocolate and put it into a roomy heatproof bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on high, in 30 second bursts. It will usually take about 3 minutes or so altogether. Add the butter after the first couple of minutes. Make sure to stir between each 30 second burst, and stop once it’s smooth because you don’t want to scorch it.

Alternately, you can melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (like a double boiler). If you do this, choose a bowl that will fit comfortably in the top of the saucepan but without the bottom touching the hot water.

Stir the sugar gently into the melted chocolate and butter. Sift a layer of flour and cocoa over the top.

Add the eggs and then sift the rest of the flour over the top. Stir everything together. Spread it into your prepared baking dish.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending upon the fierceness of your oven and how squidgy you like your brownies, until firm on top but still moist underneath.

Then remove it from the oven and allow brownies to cool slightly in the pan. Then cut into squares. Cover with a clean tea towel to avoid drying out and finish cooling in the pan.