Brownies need no introduction, they are by far one of the most loved baked goods and rightly so. This Season’s Eatings recipe for liquorice chocolate brownies combines two flavours we enjoy.

Although liquorice may not be a flavour for everyone, do not be perturbed by the liquorice powder in this recipe for liquorice chocolate brownies. We use just enough to act as a flavour enhancer to the chocolate and for a mellow aftertaste, with the main hit coming from the liquorice sweets. If you want to increase the liquorice intensity, by all means double the amount of liquorice powder.

Equally for those fans of salted liquorice, as an extra twist, you could adorn the top of the brownie mixture with sea salt flakes just before baking. Chocolate and salt are a beautiful combination after all.

We sourced our liquorice powder from the Lakrids brand, which is available through Scandinavian shops in the UK and also currently online at Harvey Nichols. For any liquorice fan, this brand offers a wide variety of products that would make even Nigella Lawson’s liquorice box seem incomplete.

As for chocolate, our preferred household brand in the UK has been and continues to be Green & Blacks, both for dark chocolate and cocoa powder. However if you can’t get hold of this brand, anything with at least 70% cocoa will suffice. We recommend not using milk chocolate, as the lower cocoa content will mean the brownies will be much less chocolatey and too sweet.

This recipe makes 16 portions. They will not last long, but if you do need to store them, we recommend in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 200g dark chocolate
• 150g unsalted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 75g plain flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp Lakrids liquorice powder
• 16 liquorice sweets

Recipe:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC, then grease and line a square baking dish with greaseproof paper.
2. In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the butter and dark chocolate together with the vanilla extract.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Leave to cool for 10 minutes or until cool to touch, then beat the eggs together and stir in quickly. If your mixture is too hot, you risk scrambling the eggs. The mixture should become even more glossy.
4. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and liquorice powder, then fold together until smooth and well-combined.
5. Transfer the mixture to the lined baking dish, and level the top. Decorate with the liquorice sweets, evenly distributed so there will be one on each piece on each of the 16 squares of brownie once cut.
6. Bake in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes, until the top starts to crack but the centre is still slightly soft.
7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the baking dish before cutting into 16 squares.