Best Brownies Ever, Fairtrade, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, with Free-Range Eggs in just TEN STEPS

It's not every day that you go to someone's funeral and taste a cake that is so deliciously chocolatey and gooey and chewy, all that same time, that you have to ask the person who gave it to you from her tin, for the recipe. 'Ah', she responded,'It is a secret family recipe and I can't tell it to you.' I knew that I had to get that recipe, it couldn't remain a secret any longer, I wanted my customers in my shop to be able to enjoy a slice of this indulgent deliciousness with their coffee. Poor lady at the funeral, I followed her around asking and asking, finally, she smiled a secret, cheeky smile and told me the truth, that it comes out of a packet mix from Costco.

So, we went to Costco and found the mix that she was talking about and it was so easy, we just had to add some oil and some eggs and they came out perfectly, every time, which was great for me, as I don't see myself as a naturally great cook, I'm the kind of person that would always burn myself when cooking, or burn what I was cooking! Also, my concentration is not my strong point, so remembering where I am in a recipe or even planning ahead to pre-heat the oven, is still an achievement in itself. That I suppose, would be the end of the story, if I didn't feel passionately about Fairtrade and making sure that our cakes do something to help heal the planet and are ethical too. I called up the mix manufacturer and asked if they would be doing a Fairtrade version, with Fairtrade chocolate and sugar in and they said that it wasn't on their radar at all. I was really disappointed and after a lot of thinking decided to try to create a recipe as simple as theirs, no egg separation needed, no fancy stuff, just quick ingredients that you can throw in the bowl and then cook and it comes out right, every time, no matter who makes it and it is Fairtrade and I decided that I wanted to make it Gluten-Free too.

So, I tried and I tried and I tried, again and again and our customers were lucky enough to taste them and tell us what they wanted it to taste like, then one day, after lots of failures, I created a recipe that tasted so beautiful, gooey, chewy and rich but with a clean aftertaste! Success! Not only that but it was Fairtrade and Gluten-free too.

Well, after that build-up, you'll want the recipe now, won't you!

I write my recipes as step by step instructions, how you would do things logically, none of this suddenly being told to put things in a pre-heated oven, without being told it needed to be pare-heated, at the beginning of the recipe.

Best Brownies Ever, Fairtrade, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, with Free Range Eggs. Suitable for Vegetarians.

1/ Preheat the oven to 170 Degrees Celsius

2/ Line a 9 x 13 inch baking tray with grease-proof paper and grease with oil.

3/ Into a big bowl put 450g of raw cane caster sugar, Fairtrade, with 3 eggs and 1 teaspoon of Fairtrade Vanilla Extract. Mix together well, with a fork.

4/ Into a measuring jug, measure out 200ml of vegetable oil, then add 70g of Divine Cocoa Powder. Mix these together well with a fork and then add to the sugar and egg mix and mix it all together.

5/Next, measure out 120g of Doves Farm Organic Gluten Free Self Raising Flour and add 1 and a half teaspoons of Doves Farm Gluten Free Baking powder and add this to the chocolatey mixture, stir in well.

6/ Take a 100g bar of Divine Dark Chocolate and smash into pieces whilst still in the packet, using a rolling pin, I prefer a hammer though!

7/ Mix the chocolate pieces into the mix.

8/ Pour and scrape the mix into the prepared baking tray.

9/ Place in to the preheated oven for 19 minutes. Then take out, cover with foil and place in the oven for another 19 minutes.

10/ Take the brownies out and give them time to cool, then serve up and enjoy!

These brownies are great for a teatime treat, or even as an extra delicious dessert. If you can't be bothered to make them for yourself, then please pop into our shop and get some.

These brownies are full of sugar, so they are not the healthiest thing in the world to eat but they are very, very tasty and enjoyable!

Gorgeous Divine Chocolate Cake Recipe!

Divine Chocolate and Raspberry Truffle Cake

By Linda Collister: 

Very pretty and special - For Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or any other celebration!

Makes one large cake

Prep time 30 minutes
Cooking time approx one hour
Serves 8-10

Ingredients

For the sponge:

200g Divine Dark Chocolate, broken up (available at +My Coffee Stop )
4 tbsps Amaretto Disaronno (amaretti liqueur)
200g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar plus 3 tbsps extra
6 large free-range eggs, at room temperature, separated
A good pinch cream of tartar
A good pinch of salt
100g ground almonds (available at +My Coffee Stop )
125g plain flour
25g flaked almonds
125g fresh raspberries

For the icing:

150g Divine Dark Chocolate, broken up (available at +My Coffee Stop )
1 tablespoon Amaretto Disaronno
125g unsalted butter, softened
1 heaped tbsp golden syrup

To decorate: fresh raspberries, chocolate shards or curls

Equipment
21cm springform tin, greased and base-lined

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas 4.

Put the chocolate and Amaretto into a heatproof bowl.  Set over a pan of steaming hot but not boiling water and leave to melt gently.  Remove the bowl from the pan, stir the chocolate gently until smooth then leave to cool until needed.

Beat the butter until creamy, using a wooden spoon or an electric whisk. Then beat in the 200g sugar (save the rest for later).  When the mixture looks very light and fluffy beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a clean whisk until just frothy, then add the cream of tartar and the salt and continue whisking until the mixture is thick and stands in soft peaks when the whisk is lifted.  Whisk in the reserved 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Using a large metal spoon gently fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture, followed by the ground almonds.  Add a quarter of the egg whites and fold in.  Sift half the flour on to the mixture and fold in, then half the remaining egg whites.  Repeat with the remaining flour and whites.  Gently fold in the flaked almonds and raspberries, using just a couple of movements so the mixture is not over-worked, then spoon the mixture into the tin and spread evenly.

Bake in the heated oven for 55-60 minutes until just firm to touch and a cocktail stick inserted into the centre (avoiding the fruit) comes out clean. Run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the tin then leave to cool and firm up on a wire rack for 15 minutes before unclipping the tin.

A massive thank you to +Divine Chocolate for sharing this luxurious chocolate recipe with us!

Divine Dark Chocolate is a fantastic cooking ingredient, it has such a clean after taste but great deep chocolatly taste as you chew, we do have Dark Divine Bars in stock in both Enfield and Shepton Mallet shops, so if this recipe has inspired you, then please do come along to us and get baking! 

Low Gi, Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Muffins!

I am so excited! I have finally created a low GI, gluten-free and dairy-free muffin recipe!

These muffins are great for diabetic people, those on a low carbohydrate diet and those that have gluten and dairy intolerances, as well as those that just want to enjoy a healthy, tasty and nutritious snack.

I have just finished one of these muffins and I have to say it's the best tasting gluten and dairy free item that I have ever tasted.

The muffins I chose to make were Blueberry and Banana and I used a brilliant combination of gluten-free flours to create a really fluffy texture. The flour replacements I used were gluten-free flour made from potatoes and rice starches, quinoa flour, ground almonds and gluten-free oats.

The milk I used which was an excellent dairy-free replacement was Rice Dream Original. I have been trying to bake with Coconut Milk but it's been making the cake too dry. We normally use yoghurt in our cakes but as I wanted to make these dairy-free, I substituted unsweetened 100% apple puree, from Biona, instead.

For the sugar, I used a small amount of raw cane sugar, with a low GI Coconut Sugar.

I am so exceptionally pleased with these muffins and feel they are a real break through in my dairy and gluten-free baking.

Hope you can pop by and try some soon.

Please let me know if you have certain foods you can't eat and what kind of cake you'd like us to bake for you, just by commenting here.

Keep happy and healthy. Xx