I’ve gone back to the book that started off this whole blog, Patisserie: Mastering the Fundamentals of French Pastry. Some of the recipes in Christophe Felder’s books are a little dated now, but I found this recipe for chocolate brownies and I thought I’d give it a try.
I’m reluctant to call these brownies, as I’m a bit of a brownie purist and I believe they should be packed full of chocolate and just cooked through so they are gorgeous and fudgy. This recipe is delicious and while it has some of the fudgelike qualities of a good brownie, I feel like calling it a brownie is a bit of a stretch. So I’ve called them chocolate chestnut squares.
The cake layer is packed full of hazelnuts and then spread with a layer of the most delicious chestnut spread. I got my jar from Lina Stores in London, it’s a mix of chocolate, chestnut and rum and I can’t wait to use it more in my baking.
The squares are then topped with a blend of dark chocolate mixed with a little oil to keep it soft and add to the overall texture.
The recipe for these couldn’t be easier, but if you want a great recipe for a more traditional brownie, try these Supernatural Brownies by Michelle from Hummingbird High. I made them last week for my colleagues to mark 10 years in my job and they went down a treat!
I know my updates haven’t been very frequent recently, but I’ve just been busy in so many different directions. I have been cooking, but I havn’t had a chance to get anything written up and put on the blog.
I’ve missed writing here, so here’s the recipe for you and here’s to some more frequent updates.
Chocolate Chestnut Squares
Ingredients
- ***Cake***
- 150 g Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa
- 100 g Unsalted Butter
- 100 g Caster Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 40 g Plain Flour sifted
- 2 Tbsp Instant Coffee Granules
- 50 g Hazelnuts chopped
- ***Topping***
- 100 g Chestnut Spread
- 1 Tbsp flavourless oil
- 100 g Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C Fan/180C, and grease and line a 23cm square cake tin.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together in a pan over a low heat, making sure they don't burn at all.
- Mix the eggs and caster sugar together until they are light and combined, add the coffee and mix evenly.
- Add the melted chocolate and butter to the egg mixture and stir to combine.
- Sift in the flour and fold gently making sure all of the flour is mixed in, add the hazelnuts, give it a final stir and place it all in the prepared pan and back for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin, when the cake is completely cool, peel off the greaseproof paper and stand the cake on a board or cake rack.
- Spread the chestnut spread over the top of the cake in a thin even layer.
- Take the chocolate and put in it a bowl and stand it over a pan of barely simmering water.
- Melt the chocolate, but don't let it get too hot, stir in the oil until the two have mixed together.
- Take the chocolate mix and pour it over the top of the cake, spread it thinly with a knife and then place the cake in the fridge for around 15mins for the chocolate to set, so that the cake can be cut.
- When the chocolate topping has set, trim the edge of the cake and then cut it neatly into 16 squares.
Thanks for reading.
Angela
Intxaurtsu
Hello Alice- I have just come across your recipe and it struck me you considered Christophe Felder’s book dated. I do totaly agree with you, and I am looking for a good professional more updated pastry or patissery and vienosserie book for a Christmas present; however, I am having real trouble to pick up one, since most reviews only highlight the good on most of them. ¿ Could you recommend me a good one, please? Thank you in advance
patisseriemakesperfect
Hi, the books I would recommend are:
Edd Kimber – Patisserie Made Simple
William Curley – Patisserie
Bouchon Bakery Book
I have made recipes from all of these and I’ve found them to be very good. I don’t have any books solely dedicated to viennoiserie though, although each of those feature some viennoiserie recipes.
Best wishes
Angela
Katherine Ostrich
These are delicious, thanks for the recipe!
Marta / What should I eat for breakfast today
Hahahaah, I love the first paragraphs. I am just the same, brownies are brownies 😀
patisseriemakesperfect
I am so pleased you don’t like to tinker with your brownies 🙂
Hannah Hossack-Lodge
These look delicious and that chestnut spread sounds so good, I’ll have to seek some out. I’ve been struggling to keep up with the blog a bit myself, I’ve still been posting but I’ve really struggled to keep up with all the social shares; how I long to have more free time…
patisseriemakesperfect
It’s so tough isn’t it Hannah? A couple of baking fails haven’t helped either- really mucks up the schedule!
I definitely need more free time!
Jodie Dodd
I totally agree with you Angela, a brownie is fudgy and chewy, nothing crunchy in it. I love baking brownies and now my daughter’s soccer team is obsessed with them. Will be making three pans this week for them!
These squares look delicious though, especially with the chestnut spread. That sounds like something I could eat right out of the jar with a spoon! 🙂 x
patisseriemakesperfect
Brownies are so good Jodie I can eat entirely too many in one sitting! The chestnut spread is very dangerous!
Yorkshire Catering
These chocolate treats look amazing. I am definitely giving these a try this weekend! Thanks for sharing.
patisseriemakesperfect
Thanks for your comment – you definitely won’t be disappointed by these! Enjoy.
Alice
Thank you for your recipe 🙂
I made them tonight and they were delicious.
But the chocolate topping became a paste instead of being a little runny…I will add more oil next time.
Also, I couldn’t taste the chestnut at all…they were overpowered by the chocolate.
I will add more chestnut spread next time and maybe less chocolate topping the next time I make them.
patisseriemakesperfect
Hi Alice – I’m so glad you made these I’m sorry the topping was more like a paste, the melted chocolate should still be quite warm and that helps to emulsify the oil into the chocolate. I agree about the chestnut flavouring, it is quite subtle. Thanks for letting me know about the tweaks you made.