Milk Chocolate Brownies

“A glass and a half of full-cream dairy milk” was a slogan I grew up with and Cadbury, with its famous purple packaging, was the only chocolate that was ever found in our fridge at home for a very long time. Mum must’ve felt comforted by the milk content as the dentist was forever saying my teeth lacked calcium – not sure he would’ve approved of my sugary ways of upping my intake though!

My love of chocolate is quite well known, but since my early twenties I have moved towards consuming mostly dark chocolate for its more intense cocoa flavour and I convince myself, also, for its reported antioxidant benefits. I love how Cadbury Flake is available in dark chocolate as it makes for an easy topping for cakes when crumbled. There is also a romantic nostalgia for me (like with Polaroids) associated with the tv commercial featuring the lady with the wide-brimmed white hat. I tried hard to eat my Flake like she does in the ad, but all I got were little chocolate crumbs everywhere.

When a block of Cadbury’s new Fairtrade Dairy Milk arrived in the mail (this humble blog’s very first received product – how fitting that it be chocolate!), I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. I received it a few days before my wedding and my mind was understandably pre-occupied with other things at hand. Knowing I wouldn’t be eating a whole 200 grams of milk chocolate as is, I filed it away into the pantry for safe keeping. It was so safely kept that I forgot about it until I was looking for baking inspiration for our weekly office morning tea.

Chocolate is always a safe option when baking for people you don’t know all that well as it is rare to come across people who don’t particularly like chocolate. And because milk chocolate tends to have wider appeal than its darker sibling for the masses, out came the block of Cadbury’s for these milk chocolate brownies.

They’re definitely less chocolaty than your usual brownies but are not too sugary either. I threw in some dark chocolate and walnut pieces to appeal to my own tastes, but of course you can use any variety of chocolate or nuts that you like. You still get a nicely dense texture with these brownies and they also made a pleasing dessert for the husband.

Mademoiselle Délicieuse received the above sample of Cadbury Fairtrade Dairy Milk Chocolate courtesy of The Online Circle. Fairtrade practices help protect farmers in the industry by dictating standards for working and trade conditions.

Milk Chocolate Brownies

(adapted from Triple Chocolate Brownies from delicious. Magazine April 2007, recipe by Bill Granger)

Ingredients:

·         200g milk chocolate, chopped

·         150g butter, chopped

·         ½ cup caster sugar

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         3 eggs

·         ½ cup plain flour, sifted

·         100g dark chocolate, in chunks

·         ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

·         cocoa powder, for dusting

Method:

1. Preheat oven 160°C. Grease and line a shallow slice tin.
2. Melt milk chocolate with butter in a bowl which fits snugly over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir mixture until combined and glossy then set aside to cool slightly.
3. Beat sugar and vanilla into chocolate mixture then whisk in eggs one at a time. Add flour and beat until smooth. Stir in dark chocolate and walnut pieces.
4. Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven and dust with cocoa but allow to cool completely before removing from tin to cut into whatever shape that takes your fancy.

happy cooking!