Espresso Brownies
Dense, fudgy dark chocolate brownies with a shiny, crackled top, where the espresso makes the chocolate taste darker and richer rather than making them taste of coffee. Add more and they turn mocha. Both are good.
At a glance
- Chocolate : sugar
- 1:1
- Active time
- 20 min
- Total time
- 105 min
- Makes
- 16 squares
- Serve
- Room temperature
- Kit
- 20 cm square tin
Ingredients
Note: Instant espresso powder, not ground coffee, which stays gritty. Instant coffee granules work if crushed fine first.
Method
-
Heat the oven, line the tin
Heat the oven to 180°C, or 160°C fan. Line a 20 cm square tin with baking paper so it overhangs on two sides.
-
Melt chocolate, butter and espresso
Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl over barely simmering water, or in short bursts in the microwave. Stir in the espresso powder until it dissolves. Let it cool for five minutes.
Dissolving the espresso in the warm fat spreads it evenly. Stirred into the flour, it leaves bitter specks.
-
Whisk eggs and sugar hard
Whisk the eggs, both sugars and vanilla with an electric whisk for four to five minutes until pale, thick and nearly doubled.
This is the shiny top. The dissolved sugar and egg form a thin meringue layer that rises to the surface and sets as a crackled crust.
Whisk 4 to 5 minutes -
Fold in the chocolate
Pour the chocolate into the egg mixture and fold it through gently with a spatula until no streaks remain.
-
Sift and fold in the dry
Sift the flour, cocoa and salt over the top and fold in until just combined. Stop as soon as there are no dry pockets.
Overmixing develops gluten and makes them cakey.
-
Bake until just set
Scrape into the tin, level it, and bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the top is shiny and set and a skewer comes out with moist crumbs, not wet batter.
Underbake rather than over. They firm as they cool.
Bake 22 to 25 minutes -
Cool completely, then cut
Leave them in the tin to cool completely, at least an hour, then lift out and cut into sixteen squares with a hot knife, wiping it between cuts.
Cool 1 hour
Why this works
A small amount of coffee makes chocolate taste more like chocolate. The two share a great many flavour compounds, because both are roasted seeds and both develop their flavour through the same Maillard reactions and caramelisation. Coffee's roasted bitterness also deepens the perception of cocoa. At two teaspoons of espresso powder, most people taste darker chocolate and no coffee. At four, the coffee becomes a flavour in its own right and the brownie is a mocha.
Dissolving the powder in the warm butter and chocolate spreads it through the fat, so the flavour is even. Instant espresso powder is used because it dissolves completely. Ground coffee never does and leaves grit.
The shiny, crackled top comes from whisking the eggs and sugar for longer than most recipes suggest. Vigorous whisking dissolves much of the sugar into the eggs and builds a fine foam. In the oven that sugary foam rises to the surface and dries into a thin, glossy meringue crust that cracks as the brownie settles. Skip it and the top is matt.
Fudginess is a ratio. These use a lot of chocolate and butter to little flour, and only a little cocoa, so the brownie sets mostly through cooling fat and egg rather than through flour and gluten. Taking them out while the centre is still moist, and letting them cool completely before cutting, gives the dense, almost truffle-like middle.
Variations
- Mocha brownies: four teaspoons of espresso powder and a coffee glaze of icing sugar and espresso on top.
- With chunks: fold in 100 g of chopped milk chocolate with the flour.
- Salted: flaky salt scattered on top before baking.
- Tiramisu brownies: swirl 150 g of sweetened mascarpone through the batter before baking.
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Questions
Do espresso brownies taste of coffee?
With two teaspoons of espresso powder, barely. It deepens the chocolate. With four, the coffee is clear and they taste like mocha.
Can I use brewed coffee in brownies?
A tablespoon or two can replace some liquid, but it adds water and little flavour. Instant espresso powder is much more effective.
How do you get a shiny top on brownies?
Whisk the eggs and sugar for four to five minutes until pale and thick before adding the chocolate. The dissolved sugar forms a thin meringue crust.
How long do espresso brownies keep?
Four to five days in an airtight tin at room temperature. They freeze well for three months.