Red Velvet brownies

Perfect Red Velvet brownies. Richly chocolatey, intense and wonderfully fudgy. The only difference from classic brownies is the addition of red food colouring. Perfect for Halloween! These Red Velvet brownies would pair beautifully with my Devil’s Food Cupcakes.

Ingredients for Red Velvet brownies:

• 180 g butter
• 250 g dark chocolate (50%), chopped
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 250 g caster sugar
• 100 g plain flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp red gel food colouring (or powdered food colouring)

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and remove from the heat. Add the chopped dark chocolate to the hot butter and leave for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth and glossy. Leave the chocolate mixture to cool (or leave it slightly warm, but not hot); it should remain fluid.

Lightly whisk the eggs in a bowl with a hand whisk (do not whip). Add the vanilla extract and sugar and whisk for a little while until well combined. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift the flour and baking powder directly into the chocolate mixture, add the salt and mix just until combined. Add the food colouring, starting with a smaller amount and adding more if necessary, and mix thoroughly until the colour is evenly distributed.

Pour the brownie batter into a 28 x 18 cm baking tin (or a 23 cm square tin), greased with butter and lined with baking paper.

Bake the Red Velvet brownies at 160°C fan or 180°C conventional for approximately 30–33 minutes. The brownies will rise slightly and may crack around the edges or develop a wrinkled surface. A skewer inserted into the centre may come out moist, but it should not have any traces of raw batter on it. However, brownies are generally not tested with a skewer, as this is not a particularly reliable indicator of doneness.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!