Having been brought up in Canada, I imagined myself a bit of an authority on brownies. The Canadians, rightly, consider themselves professionals on the subject… and I had built on what they taught me, over some decades, painstakingly improving on the pretty much already perfect.

So an authority, then, on brownies.

That is, until I went to live in England, in deepest, darkest Hampshire. I was disgruntled to discover that my children would return from tea at a neighbour’s telling me that the brownies they enjoyed there were better than mine!

Generously, she gave me the recipe, and I am now generously sharing it with Saucy Dressings readers.

For variations on the brownie theme, see also:

• many splendoured every-one-is-different brownies
• be-berried brownies
• precocious rhubarb pink-and-whities

Simply the best brownie recipe

Makes about 18

Ingredients

• 125g/4 oz/half a brick of butter
• 150g/5 oz plain chocolate – that’s one and a half packets… eat the remainder of the second packet… cook’s perks!
• 230g/1 cup and 2 tbsps golden caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 130g/1 cup plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Grease a shallow, oblong, ideally non-stick – otherwise grease the tin first, tin – about 18 x 28 cm/10” x 8” – you can even buy a dedicated brownie tin from Lakeland – follow this link for this. 
3. Melt the chocolate and butter in a pyrex mixing bowl, over some simmering water (the bowl shouldn’t touch the water).
4. Once melted, put the bowl onto your work surface.
5. Stir in all the other ingredients.
6. Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake for 30 minutes. Be careful not to overcook – the brownies need to be gorgeously gooey.

This post is dedicated to Janet Marsh.