Oh ho ho, do I have a recipe series for you! As a side effect of having worked in tea for over a decade, I have amassed quite a number of ways of adding it to my recipes. There are some obvious things you can try, and then there’s some less obvious suggestions; tea is an incredibly versatile ingredient. I start with one of the more obvious recipes and one that is entirely fool proof, provided you like Earl Grey and chocolate. Any Earl Grey will do, though the higher the quality the better. There’s nothing like the pure aroma and flavour of bergamot, particularly if it’s natural, and the black tea adds a certain depth to the whole shebang.
This recipe was originally written for AVANTCHA.
Majestic Earl Grey Brownies
Serves: 16
Duration: 40 mins
Ingredients
185 g soft unsalted butter
185 g good quality dark chocolate
3 large eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
250 g caster sugar
115 g plain flour
15g AVANTCHA Majestic Earl Grey Tea Loose Leaf, ground to a fine powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Method
Grease and line a 9x9inch baking tin
Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan and add the ground tea – don’t overheat or the chocolate can become grainy
When the chocolate and butter has melted take off the heat and let cool a while
Meanwhile beat the eggs and sugar in the mixer or by hand
Measure out your flour, add the salt and set aside
Once your chocolate mixture has cooled, pour it into the beaten eggs, sugar and vanilla extract mix – beat again until well combined
Sift in the flour and ground tea, if using, and beat until combined
Scrape out into your prepared tin
Bake for about 20-25 minutes
When cooked the top should have a dry, pale crust, but the middle should be super gooey – bake for longer or less depending on desired consistency but remember that brownies will continue cooking once out of the oven and as they cool, so you really do want some goo in the middle
Once at your desired level of baking (I always go for gooey-er) leave to cool in the baking tin almost completely before turning out and cutting into squares
Sprinkle with a little extra tea (most high quality loose leaf brands will add flower petals like marigold or cornflower for extra visual flair) and serve with a good glug of double cream