Fairtrade Chocolate Brownie
Jeff baked it as a special Fairtrade Fortnight treat in the Suma canteen.
I’d never been interested in baking before; too much science and not enough room for making it up as you go along.
However high expectations from Suma’s workers made me feel that I should make the effort to learn; there’s only so many times that you can fob them off with short-dated yoghurt.
Watching technique videos on the internet made me vaguely confident of scaling the recipe up a touch and by rummaging through Suma’s 60,000-sq/ft store cupboard (a.k.a ‘the warehouse’) it was easy to give my version Fairtrade status. What could possibly go wrong?
These are the measurements for Lesley Waters’ original Brownie; multiplying the quantities by five will roughly feed 100 hungry Suma workers. But there’s always short-dated yoghurt if you run out…
Bob’s your uncle! Thanks to Lesley I’m hooked on baking. Now if only I could keep the vegans happy…
Jeff
Ingredients
- 115g Unsalted organic butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 170g Billingtons Fairtrade Organic Caster Sugar – LJ190
- 2 Organic Free-range eggs
- 40g Divine Fairtrade 85% cocoa Dark Chocolate – ZX469
- 55g Suma Fairtrade Organic Pitted Dates – DR720
- 1 tsp Steenbergs Fairtrade Organic Vanilla Extract – LJ334
- 2 tsp Clipper Fairtrade Papua New Guinea Instant Coffee Granules – TE076
- 2 tbsp warm water
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 55g Organic Plain Flour
- 55g Suma Fairtrade Organic Cocoa Powder – LJ189
- Icing Sugar for dusting
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- Prepare the cake tin. Grease an 18cm/7in square cake tin and line with non-stick baking parchment.
- In a clean bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
- Chop the chocolate and put to one side.
- Chop the dates. Gently fold the dates and chocolate into the butter and egg mixture. Add the vanilla extract.
- Dissolve the coffee granules in two tablespoons of warm water and add to the mixture. Mix together well.
- Add the baking powder, then sift in the flour and cocoa powder. Mix well; the mixture will be quite wet.
- Spoon the brownie batter into the prepared tin and level out the top with a spatula.
- Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin for ten minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool.
- To serve, cut into rectangles and dust with icing sugar.