Creme Egg Frosted Brownies

Presumably if you're reading this post then you've found this post  via a chocolatey hashtag, meaning you're in search of tasty, calorific inspiration, so welcome, friend. Please come on in.

Each weekend I try to have a bake off, something that is impressive visually, or tasty or that makes my house smell heavenly - if I reach all three, then I've had a truly successful day. Today was that successful day. A day where Cadbury's Creme Eggs and Hummingbird Bakery's Frosted Brownies came together in a beautiful, unspeakable-amount-of-calories-but-such-great-fun, unison.

I'm about to share my recipe with you, which differs a little from Hummingbirds original recipe and, from what I can see, is far simpler than recipes I found online which insist you used the dreaded bain-marie and sift all ingredients. Show me a modern woman who still believes that a microwave doesn't do the same job as a bain-marie in half the time and that things actually need sifting and I'll show you my resting bitch face. A face which shows my disbelief and disinterest.

There is one bit of advice I will give you for these brownies, a thought which crossed my mind in this exact way while stood in the supermarket earlier on, (while shovelling enough Creme Eggs into my basket to begin to wonder whether I should have chosen a trolley instead and loudly exclaiming that I have a lot of cousins to think about for Easter, so people wouldn't believe each one was for my own purposes), you're baking Creme Egg brownies, CREME EGG ONES. One, two or even four Creme Eggs simply won't do, we don't want to hint at Creme Eggs, we want to explode Creme Eggs all over whichever unlucky, clean plate we have chosen to eat it off. We want Easter all up in and around our mouths and we don't want to explain, worry or doubt it.

Please use no less than ten Creme Eggs for this fondanty, chocolately dream, blame whatever happens to the middle of your body on me. I'm alright with that.

So, the recipe. Firstly, you will need:

For the brownie:

10 CREME EGGS (incase not already noted)
5 normal boring eggs
120g plain flour
100g cacao powder (I used raw, organic cacao powder because I had to give a nod to my health somewhere in there.)
250g salted butter (the unsalted butter thing is also a myth. Next time you crack open a recipe book, have a look at the ingredients, you'll often find unsalted butter and salt listed as two of the ingredients.)
30g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

For the frosting:

200g icing sugar
75g salted butter
30g cacao powder
150g cream cheese

Here comes my slap dash, Jamie Oliver (minus the lisp) method, which saves you a bunch of time and gets you a whopping slice on your plate an awful lot quicker.

Head your oven to 170 degrees (based on a fan oven) and line a baking tray (33 x 23 x 5cm) with greaseproof paper. If it doesn't fit, which it never does, and you don't want ugly corners, then just cut a square into each corner and you'll find that the paper sits perfectly.

Beat ALL ingredients, aside from the Creme Eggs, together in a bowl until there are no unsightly lumpy bits, it takes a good three minutes for this to happen, don't be put off.

Once this is done, spoon all your mixture into the baking tray and flatten off, ensuring the majority is even. Don't stress too much about this, as it warms up it flattens off anyway.

Bake for 15 minutes and take this opportunity to have some fun cutting up Creme Eggs, ready for brownie sacrifice.

Once your 15 minutes are up, take the brownie out and push your Creme Egg halves into the top of it. Bake for a further 15 minutes.

Once done, leave to cool completely before beating all your frosting ingredients together and spreading over the top of your brownie, like the ultimate chocolate spread on the ultimate chocolatey toast.

Cut up and impress everyone. You will make new friends with a slice of this brownie. Cake makes you popular.

Enjoy!

Nutribullet

For months now I've been seeing photos people who are actually managing to get horrible things such as kale and spinach and raw beetroot into their systems, with what I had assumed to be ironic hashtags such as #Yum and #Delicious.  I thought it was high time to see if my friends were trying to make us all feel bad for not eating veg, or whether there truly is a way to make salad enjoyable, so it's time to step forth and take a bullet and see how I get on.

I'll be posting recipes I try, good or bad, and be genuinely honest about whether this is a money making scheme or a waist-shaping tasty invention and ALL your comments, words of encouragement (especially on days when I'm downing things that are lurid green) and also any tasty recipes you have tried, will be welcome.

Celestial Seasoning Teas

Two of my favourite things in life are tea and quotes, so one of my newly favourite things is Celestial Seasoning Tea, which combines the two.

With each cup of fabulous tea, anything from Raspberry Zinger to a way-above-standard cup of Earl Grey, there is also a quote which will either make you smile, make you think or make you cry a bit. It offers the thinking woman's cuppa.

It was my darling Grandma who first bought me this adorable set which also came with a cute little linen bag with "Kettle On, Feet Up" brandished across it (my sort of instruction) and a coaster filled with spices, which exudes a fabulous smell when warmed up and various teabag flavours which I have been slowly picking my way through over the last few days.

She bought it from the American History Museum in Bath, one of my favourite spots on the planet, hence it being an import but I have already found these being sold on ebay at a reasonable price, which has consequently meant I have spent a little more than was initially intended on fruit tea, but it's all worth it if I get inspired from a mug of hot loveliness each day.

I raise my mug in your general direction and say, "Cheers!"