Ingredients:
- Thick chocolate sauce
- 180g dark chocolate, 70% solids
- 100g milk chocolate
- 280ml milk
- 160ml single cream
- Chantilly cream
- 500ml whipping cream
- 70g icing sugar
- half a vanilla pod
- Coffee granita
- 480ml hot espresso coffee
- 80ml hot, diluted chicory essence (Camp coffee)
- 60g caster sugar
- Chocolate brownies
- 80g unsalted butter + some for greasing
- 120g plain flour + some for dusting
- 300g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 40g good quality cocoa powder
- 100g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
- 100g good quality chocolate drops or chips (or a bar cut into small chunks)
Method:
Make the coffee granita
Mix all ingredients together while the coffee is still hot. Leave to cool completely before pouring into a shallow tray or tub and placing in the freezer for 3-4 hours (can make the day before). Just before serving the ‘cappucino’, break up the frozen mixture by running the prongs of a fork along the surface, resulting in coffee ice crystals.
Make the brownies
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a fairly deep rectangular cake tin and dust with the extra flour, tipping out ant excess to leave a thin coating.
Beat the butter vigorously with the caster sugar using electric beaters (this is easier if the butter is at room temperature) until very pale and light. Then beat in the eggs one by one before adding the sifted flour and cocoa powder. Fold in the pecan nuts and the chocolate drops.
Turn this mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cut into 6 large squares in the tin while still hot. Leave to cool a little and take them out of the tin while still slightly warm. They will turn ‘fudgy’ as they cool. To serve, dust with icing sugar and cut each square diagonally into 2 triangles. Can make the day before.
Make the Chantilly cream
Mix the cream and the icing sugar. Scrape the seeds from half the vanilla pod and add to the cream. Chill in a bowl. When very cold, beat until stiff. return to the fridge until needed.
Make the thick chocolate sauce (ganache)
Break the chocolate into a food processor and whizz until finely grated. Put this into a heatproof bowl. Bring the milk and cream to the boil (but do not allow to boil or it will split) and pour this onto the chocolate. Stir carefully with a wooden spoon until completely smooth and glossy. Keep warm until needed over a bowl of hot (but not boiling water).