Raspberry Brownies

Once a month, I attend a leadership team meeting for my company. It is a day-long affair, and being finance I usually get to go first, while everyone still is paying attention and before their brains have turned to mush.

But this month, before looking at footfall, at profit analysis, at department expenditure, we had another pressing matter to attend to.

"Right," said my boss, "T is running late thanks to Scotrail, so we should probably talk about her imminent birthday."

Turns out T was about to hit a landmark number. Balloons were required (which requires serious planning when you have motion sensors linked to alarms in your office) and cake was needed. My German colleague and I eyed each other across the table, her being the more frequent office baker.

"I can make a cake." I declared. "Unless you want to?"

She gave a shrug. "Nah, you go for it."

But what kind??? With furrowed brows, we tried to recall any allergies, any flavour aversions, any exclamations of favourites on previous baking occasions, but we drew a blank. Moments later, T arrived and the conversation was cut short.

So numbers were discussed, charts were analysed, and then later, as conversation drifted over tea and biscuits (the bourbons always disappearing first) my boss turned the conversation towards confections, eyed T and asked "so, T, if you had to choose one perfect cake, what would it be?"

She looked down, running through her mental list of cakes, and said "ooh, something chocolate. With raspberries. And coconut. I don't know, something like that!"

To the internet I went, looking for something that would travel well (ideally, by bicycle) and that ticked at least 2 of those three boxes. Raspberry brownies came up as the most likely option to please, and while I could have experimented by adding a bit of coconut, I wasn't willing to risk it since I hadn't tried this recipe before. As it was, I feared I had overdone them, so sent them in with instructions to give constructive feedback (I wouldn't be in work that day), and was told the following:

"Was lovely. Looked overbaked on outside, but was all gooey on inside, and great taste. So yeah, def do them again. Raspberry flavour came through, everyone loved it. A winner." (this person was given strict instructions to tell me if they had been overcooked so I would know if to adjust baking times, they were not being overly critical)

"Fabulous brownies, I've just inhaled one."

"Although gingerless, it was OUTSTANDING." (someone who likes ginger. A lot.)

"Even I loved it." (a person who doesn't generally eat sugar)

"Brownies are heaven."

"Brownies are yummity moo moo. You need to make again."

So I will try to make these again sometime, and maybe then I'll get more photos than just the one taken above.

Ingredients

• 200g dark chocolate
  
  , broken into chunks
• 100g milk chocolate
  
  , broken into chunks
• 250g pack salted butter
• 400g soft light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 140g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 200g raspberries

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 20 x 30cm baking tray tin with baking parchment. Put the chocolate, butter and sugar in a pan and gently melt, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat.
2. Stir the eggs, one by one, into the melted chocolate mixture. Sieve over the flour and cocoa, and stir in. Stir in half the raspberries, scrape into the tray, then scatter over the remaining raspberries. Bake on the middle shelf for 30 mins or, if you prefer a firmer texture, for 5 mins more. Cool before slicing into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.