Chocolate Brownies

Hello all!
Hope you are having a great day and a wonderful weekend.
I recently went over to a friend's for afternoon tea or "fika" as we call it here in Sweden. I don't like going empty handed anywhere so I brought brownies with me.

The brownies were popular and I was asked for the recipe, at which point I very quickly wanted to say that it was on my blog. But guess what? Even though I've talked about brownies on the blog before, and have shared the recipe in a feature on Lindsey's blog Have Clothes, Will Travel, I have never actually shared the recipe for my favourite brownies on the blog. I am making amends to that now.

Chocolate Brownies

INGREDIENTS

• 120 grams dark chocolate, chopped in pieces
• 115 grams butter, chopped in pieces
• 200 grams sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 100 grams flour

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 165°C.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a saucepan of heated water. Add the sugar and vanilla, whisk. Whisk in the eggs, on at a time. Stir in the flour. Pour into a 20x20 cm pan and bake for about 25 minutes.

I usually add chocolate ganache to the brownies once they've cooled for extra chocolatey-ness. Find the recipe for chocolate ganache here.

And lastly add sprinkles. These sprinkles that I used here are from Sweetapolita, and it's called Galaxy Twinkle Sprinkle Medley (on etsy: here). I just love Sweetapolita's sprinkles. They are so beautiful and really add to anything you put it on. These plain brownies looked so pretty with the sprinkles.

Now I can finally say that my famous brownies are up on the blog!

Have a beautiful rest of the week.

Much love,

Frosting and Sprinkles

Hello all you lovely people!
I am currently feeling poorly, but it's been a while since I shared a recipe on the blog so I thought I'd share my go-to chocolate frosting.

I love chocolate cupcakes more than any other type of cupcakes, even more than vanilla cupcakes, and that is because with chocolate frosting you get such a great and rich texture and flavour. The consistency of this frosting is perfect for piping and it creates the most beautiful swirls of chocolatey heaven.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

INGREDIENTS

• 200 grams dark chocolate, chopped
• 2 dl heavy cream
• 200 grams cream cheese

DIRECTIONS

Make a chocolate ganache by heating the heavy cream in a pan. Just before it starts to boil pour it over the chopped chocolate. Stir until you get a nice and even chocolate ganache. Then let it cool to room temperature.

In a bowl, whisk the cold cream cheese with a hand mixer, pour the ganache into the cream cheese and whip until just combined. You should have a frosting which is perfect and lovely for piping.

I made these lovely mini brownie cupcakes with the very same chocolate frosting for my Birthday last year. They were a real hit, and my mouth is watering just thinking about them.

You can find my favourite brownie recipe on the lovely Lindsey's blog Have Clothes, Will Travel. I shared the recipe for my brownies with her for a feature, so check it out: here.
And instead of baking the brownies in a pan, pour the batter into mini cupcake tins and bake for about 10 minutes at 165°C.

And lastly, add sprinkles! Because sprinkles are fun!

Much love!

Comfort food #1

Brownies are my number one comfort food. There is not much that a piece of brownie cannot fix in my book. Having a bad day - brownie. Having a good day - brownie. Any day - brownie!

The definition of comfort food is that it's generally supposed to have a high level of carbohydrates and have a simple preparation. This applies well to brownies, but I always just thought that comfort food should be food (or desserts) that make you happy. That gives you that little bit of warmth on the inside. So brownies and a cup of tea (that I like to think is a warm hug in a cup) brightens any day.

These brownies also have a layer of silky smooth chocolate ganache on top. You can find the recipe for chocolate ganache here.

Anything chocolatey has the potential of being comfort food for me, because chocolate is my favourite. Other chocolatey things on my list of comfort foods are chocolate chip cookies, hot chocolate and chocolate ice cream. Basically chocolate makes me happy, and there may be a very scientific reason behind that. What makes chocolate what it is, is the molecule theobromine, which gets its name from the cocoa plant Theobroma cacao. Theobroma in turn comes from the greek words theo and broma, together meaning "food of the gods". In one study from 2008 it was found that older men with a better psychological well-being (feelings of happiness and lower scores on a depression scale) ate more chocolate [1]. The reason could be that the theobromine in chocolate is linked to the production of serotonin in the human brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter (chemicals that act as signals between brain cells). Serotonin is important for regulation of the mood, and disorders like depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder are often related to a lack of serotonin in the brain. The research is yet inconclusive, there are both benefits and negative effects of chocolate. Chocolate is high in fat and sugar, but it also contains minerals, flavonols and stimulants. There are many studies on chocolate and it appears to reduce blood pressure and cholesterols, as well as increasing insulin sensitivity [2].  Having said all this, there are also negative effects. So moderation is key. Or as we say in Swedish, eat "lagom" of chocolate.

It is obvious that we don't know everything about the science behind why chocolate is so deliciously magnificent, but I certainly know that it makes everything a little bit better, just as comfort foods should.

What are some of your comfort foods? And what do you define as a "comfort food"?

References:
[1] Strandberg T.E. et al. (2008). Chocolate, well-being and health among elderly men. Eur J Clin Nutr 62: 247-53.
[2] Balboa-Castillo T. et al. (2015). Chocolate and health-related quality of life: a prospective study. PLoS One 10.