Perfect with coffee: Chocolate, hazelnut and cardamom brownies

Couldn’t resist making this picture as large as possible – hope it’s brought a little warmth to your day!

I baked these bad boys up for the day at Union Roasted when we were asked to bring something we liked to eat while drinking coffee. An excuse to bake? Brilliant!

I found this recipe courtesy of Tamasin Day-Lewis and then added cardamom for a bit of extra depth, and salted roasted hazelnuts for a savoury edge. These are brownies best served in small squares as they’re quite intense.

They’re pretty simple to put together and would make a lovely gift if you were going around to someone’s house for dinner. Find a pretty tin and layer up with greaseproof paper. Or alternatively scoff them all yourself…

Chocolate, hazelnut and cardamom brownies
makes approx 32

285g caster sugar
4 eggs
225g butter
85g cocoa
85g plain flour
12 cardamom pods – outer shell removed and seeds crushed
110g toasted hazelnuts
110g chocolate chunks (dark or milk depending on preference)

1. Grease and line two 20cm x 20cm cake tins and preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Mix the caster sugar and the eggs until creamy.

2. Melt the butter and then gradually add to the mix stirring until well combined. Then sieve the cocoa and plain flour and stir in to the batter along with the ground cardamom.

3. Bash up the hazelnuts and chocolate until they’re in small chunks and then fold into the mixture. Pour into the tins and then bake for approximately 20 minutes. It should have a slight wobble in the middle – be careful they don’t cook until they dry out or they’ll not be soft enough.

4. Allow to cool in the tin, and then cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar and serve with coffee.