We have a small problem. My young son does not enjoy the sound of the electric hand beater. I hope that changes soon! I either have to mix my cakes at the other end of the house, behind closed doors while he sleeps, or wait for the weekend so his daddy can distract him or take him outside!
So it seems that ‘mix-and-melt’ cakes are on the agenda for now, at least. Which worked out perfectly; because although I had been planning to test an Apple Cake recipe, that would have required beating, and a trip to the supermarket. With a small child and crazy, wild, stormy weather, that wasn’t going to happen.
What did happen were these seriously dark, beautifully moist, gluten-free brownies! The stars aligned, and with all the necessary ingredients in my pantry and too many oranges in the fruit bowl, my baking urge was satiated without scaring the baby. Perfect!
Orange and Almond Brownies
Because I’m experimenting with dairy free options, I’ve substituted coconut oil in place of butter here, but if you prefer butter, use 175g, as per the original, at London Bakes
Yield: 16 brownies
Ingredients
300g (12 oz) dark chocolate, chopped roughly
175g coconut oil
120ml (1/2 cup) honey
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
30g (just under 1/2 cup) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of sea salt
50g (1/2 cup) ground almonds
The zest of 1 large orange (approx 5 teaspoons)
Cooking Directions
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a 22cm square tin (I used one 19.5 x 28cm).
In a bowl over a pan of simmering water, slowly melt the chocolate and coconut oil. Make sure that the bowl doesn’t touch the water. When melted, remove from the heat, transfer to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.
Add the honey to the chocolate mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one by one and the vanilla and continue to mix until incorporated. Sift the cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the mixture and finally fold in the ground almonds and orange zest.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 20-30 minutes. The brownies should still be moist but should be set in the middle; if you stick a toothpick in, it won’t come out clean but it won’t have any raw batter on it.
Allow the brownie to cool before transferring to a wire rack and cutting into pieces.
melt coconut oil and butter??? or coconut oil and chocolate. I am going to make these, they look seriously yummy. And I have coconut oil.
Oops! Sorry, a typo. Chocolate and coconut oil. Thanks for pointing it out. 🙂
Ooh these look so gooey and rich. Love that there’s no butter. That practically makes them healthy right?
Right! Haha…