Whenever I take brownies to work they always go down really well. I get fed up of baking the same things over and over again and like to try new things, though.

When I was looking through Amazing Cakes From The Great British Bake Off and thinking what I’d like to make next, I found a brownie recipe in the Chocolate Chapter for Chocolate and Salted Caramel Brownies. I’ve made Salted Caramel Brownies before but have done it with a ready made jar of caramel sauce. I’ve never had the confidence to bake it myself. So I thought I’d have a go.

First, I had to make the salted caramel sauce. This was made by heating caster sugar and butter until it dissolved and melted then adding double cream to the pan. This was then brought to the boil and kept on a rolling boil until thickened. You had to stir the mixture constantly so that the caramel didn’t go grainy or stick to the bottom of the pan. It seemed to take absolutely ages to get to where I wanted it to be and then it looked more like fudge than caramel! When it was ready, I let it cool down while I made the main part of the brownies.

Compared to my regular brownie recipe, this recipe contains more chocolate. I used a mixture of dark and milk chocolate mainly because that was all I had in my cupboard. Lindt had had a special offer on their 100g bars in Morrisons so I bought two dark bars and two milk ones. Usually I only use one bar of one kind of chocolate and add in some little extras, such as chocolate chips or nuts. The rest of the ingredients were the same: brown sugar, eggs, plain flour, baking powder and butter. I didn’t use cocoa powder either.

As with all brownie recipes I always start by melting the chocolate and butter together. To the melted butter and chocolate I add the caster sugar and mix that in, followed by beaten eggs. I did not add any vanilla extract this time either. Finally, I folded in the flour and baking powder.

I spooned all the brownie mixture into a prepared loose bottomed square tin. The caramel was then spooned into the mixture and poked in so that it wasn’t just sitting on the top. It did look very pretty with its marble effect.

After half an hour’s baking the brownies were ready. I left them to cool down on the wire rack while I started making dinner.

Whenever I make brownies I find that I’m asked “Can I have one?” before I’ve even cut them up. This was no exception. I cut them up then made sure that I took four out for my family before boxing the rest up for work.

These were so yummy that I will make these again. I think I’ll cheat and use a ready made sauce if I’m short of time, though!

Happy Baking!

Love Sam xx