Gooey chocolate brownies

It was Singapore's 47th National Day on 9th of August and to celebrate I decided to make a nice batch of brownies. I've baked brownies before but only from a ready made brownie mix, but this time I decided to do it properly - from scratch. Honestly, I'm never going back to ready made brownie mixes after trying these. When I had the first bite I was in a brownie-heaven - nice and crunchy on the outside and perfectly gooey in the inside. I liked them so much that the day after I might have finished half the batch just by myself.

They are not the easiest to make (i.e. you can't just put all the ingredients together in a one bowl and voilà), but the small effort you need to take to make those brownies is worth every second spent. And it's not that they're difficult to make, but more that you need separate bowls for everything. Other than that - they're straightforward to make and trust me, you'll understand that outcome was worth using every bowl in your kitchen. What I really love about this recipe is that it makes a decent batch of brownies. I didn't put a quantity in this recipe, as it all depends on how small or large you prefer to have your brownie pieces. But it does make a huge quantity (a whole big baking tray) so they're great for parties with loads of guests as you can prepare the dessert / snack in one go or you can make them when you need a chocolate fix which is something, trust me on this, you will definitely get after eating them.

Those brownies are great for everything - you can have them as a snack (or a meal if you're chocoholic), serve them as dessert with some ice-cream (that would be especially good if the brownies were still a bit warm), put them in packed lunch, make them for a party with many guests or take them with you when going to a party. No matter how or where you eat them, I guarantee you that you'll find yourself in chocolate brownie heaven, just like I did.

Ingredients
- 370g unsalted butter
- 400g good quality dark chocolate
- 170g plain flour
- 80g cocoa powder
- 100g white chocolate
- 6 large eggs
- 550g caster sugar

Directions
Firstly cut the butter and dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl over a pot of hot water. Mix it every now and then until everything is smooth and nicely melted and then take the bowl off the water and set it aside to let it cool down a bit.

Preheat the oven to 160C fan / 180C and line a big baking tray with baking paper.

Chop the white chocolate (or if you want to you can use milk chocolate or mix of both) into small pieces and set aside. In a medium bowl, sieve together the flour and cocoa powder and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and caster sugar until thick and creamy and then pour the cooled chocolate in it and mix until the mixture is evenly brown. Then add in the flour and cocoa powder and mix until even. Lastly, add the chopped white chocolate and give the mixture few stirs. Then pour the mixture into a baking tray and even out.

Bake it for 40 minutes (or until ready). You can check whether the brownies are ready by putting a toothpick in and taking it out and if it is clear then the brownies are done. When the brownies are done, take them out of the oven and leave to cool in the tray. When they are cooled, cut them into pieces and enjoy.

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food