FOOD COLUMN: Creme Egg Brownies with Mini Egg Ice Cream

Cracking Creme Egg Brownies with Mini Egg Ice Cream

A Creme Egg is a beautiful thing. A thick, sweet outer layer that melts on the tongue with a creamy interior that just makes the soul sing. Cloak this in rich, gooey chocolate squares and you have secured unadulterated bliss. Even people who shrink from the idea succumb to the gooey charm of this unholy union.

But what is Easter if not a time for unashamed indulgence. I’m forced to up the stakes here and add another lay of naughty heaven: I present to you my Mini Egg Ice Cream. I enclose two versions depending on how kitchen keen you’re feeling.

Even the most committed chocoholics (and I seriously count myself in that category) should be warned – this is dangerously sweet, devilishly naughty and so chocolatey it satiates any craving you’ve ever experienced and more besides. Cut yourself small pieces or treat the duo as a meal in itself.

Cracking Crème Egg Brownies

Ingredients: 200g dark chocolate, 100g milk chocolate, 250g salted butter, 400g light brown sugar, 4 eggs, 150g flour, 50g cocoa powder, 5 Creme Eggs (plus one extra for the cook…), icing sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Line a baking tin with baking paper.
2. Now, melt together the chocolate, butter and sugar in a pan over a low heat until glossy and smooth.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the (hens) eggs, one by one.
4. Sieve over the flour and cocoa and then stir to combine. Your result is something akin to molten lava. I usually take a teaspoon at this point and sample the mixture. It is an absolutely vital stage, just be sure to remove any evidence from your face.
5. Pour the chocolate mixture into your baking tin. Slice the Creme Eggs in half. Place the Eggs on top of the brownie and press them down gently into the mixture.
6. Pop into the oven for about 20-30 minutes. You’ll need to check on this beauty: the brownie should be coming away from the sides and still slightly wobbly when given a gentle shake. Leave to cool before dusting with icing sugar, slicing up and serving with a large scoop of ice cream.
7. It’s the time spent waiting for your brownies to cool that I struggle with. That extra Creme Egg is a worthwhile investment.

Mini Egg Ice Cream

Keen Cook version

This is very easy and can be made freestyle without use of an ice cream maker. As there is no milk in the recipe, there is no need to stir it while it freezes.

Ingredients: 500ml double cream, 1-2tsp vanilla essence, 70g caster sugar, 3 egg yolks, packet of Mini Eggs.

Instructions:

1. Pour your cream and vanilla into a saucepan. Heat it until the cream is steaming, then turn the heat down and stir in the sugar until it has dissolved.
2. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl then slowly pour the cream over them, whisking as you go.
3. Pour your mixture into a container and then into the freezer. When the mixture has started to set, crush your Mini Eggs and stir them into the ice cream. Leave it to freeze and set completely.

Lazy Cook version: Buy a tub of vanilla ice cream and allow it to soften only slightly. Turn it out into a big bowl, stir through handfuls of crushed Mini Eggs before returning to the tub to re-set. I won’t tell if you don’t. Besides, who am I to judge?

Whatever you don’t eat the little chicks will. Easter Tweetings everyone!