Seriously Chocolatey Fudge Brownie Cake

When you can't decide between a brownie and a chocolate fudge cake, why not have both? No compromise necessary with this ridiculously delicious recipe.

There is more flour and raising agent in this recipe than a brownie mixture, but more liquid ingredients than a regular cake. This makes for a delicious cake/ brownie hybrid with light and fluffy edges and a fabulously squidgy middle. This will almost double in height when baking but will sink slightly when it cools. For maximum fudginess, let it sit overnight before digging in.

I make this as a tray bake, but you could easily bake it in a round cake tin if you want it to resemble cake more than brownie. This makes 12 generous squares and will keep in the fridge for around 5 days, although I won't judge if it doesn't last that long.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED

Deep oven tray for tray bakes

Non-stick greaseproof paper or reusable baking sheet

Large mixing bowl

Whisk

Wooden spoon

Spatula

Saucepan

INGREDIENTS

200g Flour

10g (1 heaped tsp) Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

300g Dark Chocolate

150g Butter

100g Golden Syrup

100g Brown Sugar

25g Cocoa

50g Freshly Brewed Strong Coffee

(20g ground coffee beans and 100g hot water, or 2 tbsp instant coffee and 50g water)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

5 Eggs

*50g Pecans

1) Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius/ gas mark 5. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and combine with the salt and baking powder. Leave that to the side for later. Cut a piece of greaseproof paper to sit perfectly flat at the bottom of the baking tray and liberally butter up the edges. Taking the time to do this properly will make your life so much easier later on.

2) If adding pecans, break them into smaller pieces for sprinkling and roast them for 10 minutes. Let them cool.

3) Melt the butter, chocolate, sugar and golden syrup in the saucepan on a low heat. Stir until it forms a silky chocolate sauce.

4) Remove the heat and stir in the coffee, vanilla and cocoa powder. The mixture should only be warm and not hot by now, so whisk in the eggs one at a time. It will become a slightly thicker and gloopier texture but will still be glossy and smooth.

5) Pour this mixture into the mixing bowl with the flour and gently combine the two. Stop mixing the batter as soon as it looks well incorporated to avoid over working the flour. This will help the cake aspect of the traybake to stay fluffy and light.

6) Pour this into the prepared baking tray and jiggle it about to help the batter lay flat. If adding pecans, sprinkle them over the top.

7) Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until it is well risen but is still gooey in the middle. The edges should be coming away from the tray slightly and when you move the tray, the centre should wobble without breaking the surface layer. Turn the oven off and leave it to cool in there fore 10 more minutes.

8) Take it out of the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature before gently flipping it onto a chopping board or large flat plate. Cover this with cling film and try not to touch it for at least a few hours, but preferably overnight.

9) Cut into 12 squares and serve. This is moist enough to eat on its own, but feel to add your own frosting, caramel sauce or a scoop of ice-cream. Try warming it in the microwave for 20 seconds for extra indulgence!