S’mores Brownies
Indulge in DJ BBQ's S'mores Brownies, a delectable treat to serve 12-15. Bake in a wood-fired oven at 180°C with love and enjoy!
Ingredients
1 packet of digestive biscuits, broken into chunks
60g self-raising flour
60g plain flour
80g unsweetened cocoa powder
200g butter, plus a knob
100g dark chocolate (about 70%), chopped
4 eggs
450g caster sugar
150g marshmallows
Setup
A wood-fired oven with the coals removed sitting at about 180°C (350°F)
You’ll need a roughly 25cm (10in) square cake tin
Method
1. Get the wood oven up to temperature then remove all the coals. If using a conventional oven, preheat to 180°C (350°F).
2. Grease and line your cake tin with greaseproof paper, making sure it’s neat and carefully tucked in at the edges. Cover the bottom of the tin with a layer of digestive biscuits, reserving some for later. Sift both the flours and the cocoa powder together into a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan (or in the microwave) then add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and combined.
4. In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the eggs and sugar until inflated, light and smooth. This will take about 8-10 minutes in a stand mixer on a high speed (or with an electric whisk) and considerably longer with a human arm and a balloon whisk. This is an important step as, if you do not get enough air into the mixture at this stage, you’ll miss out on the brownie crust (and you do NOT want to miss out on the brownie crust).
5. Add the butter and dark chocolate mixture to the egg mix and fold with a spatula until marbled but not totally mixed.
6. Add the sifted flours and cocoa powder and fold again until JUST mixed. Then, quick as a flash, spoon the mixture into the cake tin on top of the biscuit chunks, smooth it off and scatter over the reserved digestive biscuits pieces.
7. Slide it into the wood oven (or indoor oven) and bake for 20 minutes.
8. After 20 minutes, check your wobble. You want the brownie to have the consistency of a firm jelly, NOT a cake. The self-raising flour inflates the mix like a soufflé and you must take it out early so it can collapse into a dense, fudgy brownie. When this stage is reached (you may need more time depending on the temperature of your cooker), take it out and allow to cool.
9. When completely cool, place the brownie in the refrigerator overnight. This is the fudging stage. Remove it from the tin and place on a large board.
10. Melt the marshmallows in a saucepan with a knob of butter. When it’s all melted, spread it over the top of the brownie.
11. As a final flourish, you can toast the top of the marshmallow using a blowtorch. Alternatively, transfer the brownie to a baking sheet and place under the grill until toasted – watch it like a hawk to ensure it doesn’t burn! If you want to be a live fire legend, toast your marshmallow using a glowing hot piece of charcoal – carefully hold it with tongs just above the surface of the marshmallow.
12. Let it cool (if you can wait!), slice and enjoy. Accept praise from your friends and family, or, if you’re eating it all on your own, just wallow in your indulgent magnificence.
DJ BBQ’s Backyard Baking by Christian Stevenson, Chris Taylor and David Wright (Quadrille, £20) Photography: David Loftus