Espresso Halva Tahini Brownies
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
- 90g/3ozs. butter
- 225g/7.9ozs. dark chocolate
- 150g/5ozs. caster or superfine sugar
- 2 tablespoons espresso
- 2 eggs, beaten lightly
- 40g/1.4ozs buckwheat, chestnut or plain flour
- Pinch salt
- 185g/6.5ozs. dark chocolate
- 200g/7ozs. halva
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons/60ml/2flozs tahini
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 160C/320F and line the base and sides of a 20x20cm/8x8inch square baking tin with parchment.
Step 2 - Place the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan and melt on medium heat. Add the chocolate and melt until smooth. Add the sugar, espresso, beaten eggs, flour and salt. With a spatula stir the mixture rapidly while on the heat - you want the sugar to dissolve and the mixture to almost come away from the sides of the saucepan. It should be quite thick and glossy by this stage and it can take a few minutes to achieve this. Remove from the heat and stir in the second lot of dark chocolate.
Step 3 - Spread out half of the brownie mixture in the prepared tray. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and then slice the halva and scatter all over the batter. Top with the remaining brownie mixture and smooth the top with an angled palette knife.
Step 4 - Place the tahini in a small piping bag and pipe seven horizontal lines across the brownie. Then using a skewer, feather the pattern back and forth in a vertical pattern. Bake for 25 minutes. The centre of the brownie should be still slightly gooey while the edges are crispy and dense. This will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.